On August 20, the Supreme Court directed the urgent removal of all social media content that reveals the identity, including names, photographs, and videos, of the trainee doctor who was raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata. The directive was issued by a bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, following a petition from two practicing lawyers.
The petitioners sought a court order to remove any content that disclosed the identity of the deceased from social and electronic media platforms. The Supreme Court expressed its concern over the widespread publication of the victim’s identity and images of her dead body, stating, “This Court is constrained to pass an order since it is apparent that the social and electronic media have proceeded to publish not only the identity of the deceased but photographs of the dead body after the recovery of the body.”
In response, the Court directed that “all references to the name of the deceased victim and photographs related to the incident shall forthwith be removed from all social media platforms including electronic media platforms in compliance with this order.”
The Court highlighted that the dissemination of such content violated the guidelines established in the case of *Nipun Saxena v. Union of India, where the Supreme Court had ruled that the identity of a deceased victim should not be disclosed, even with the authorization of the next of kin, unless a competent authority, such as the Sessions Judge, justifies the disclosure.
During the suo-motu hearing on the RG Kar Hospital incident, the Supreme Court also criticized the State of West Bengal for its failure to manage the vandalism at the protest site. Additionally, the Court ordered the formation of a National Task Force to recommend measures to ensure the safety of medical professionals across the country.
Further, the Court mandated the deployment of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel to protect resident doctors, particularly female doctors, at RG Kar Hospital.
