UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Delhi HC recognises ‘right to be forgotten’, lays down rules for de-indexing judicial records

Q1. In its 2026 judgment recognising the 'right to be forgotten' and laying down rules for de-indexing of judicial records, the Delhi High Court located this right primarily within which one of the following provisions of the Constitution of India?

  • A. Article 14 (equality before law)
  • B. Article 19(1)(a) (freedom of speech and expression)
  • C. Article 21 (protection of life and personal liberty)
  • D. Article 300A (right to property)

Q2. As the primary mechanism to reconcile the right to be forgotten with the principle of open justice, the Delhi High Court's 2026 framework chiefly directed which one of the following?

  • A. Complete deletion of the concerned judgments from all databases
  • B. Masking of names and identifying details while leaving the reasoning, findings and conclusions intact
  • C. Permanent sealing of the entire court record from all public access
  • D. Total expunction of the judgments from official law reports

Q3. With reference to the right to erasure under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and comparable frameworks, consider the following statements: 1. A Data Principal may request the Data Fiduciary to erase personal data, but the fiduciary may retain it where necessary for the specified purpose or for compliance with law. 2. Government entities are exempted from the storage-limitation requirement and from the Data Principal's right to erasure. 3. Like the EU GDPR, the DPDP Act makes the right to erasure an absolute right that cannot be limited under any circumstance. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. A Data Principal may request the Data Fiduciary to erase personal data, but the fiduciary may retain it where necessary for the specified purpose or for compliance with law.
  2. Government entities are exempted from the storage-limitation requirement and from the Data Principal's right to erasure.
  3. Like the EU GDPR, the DPDP Act makes the right to erasure an absolute right that cannot be limited under any circumstance.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q4. Under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, a request for erasure of personal data is to be made by a Data Principal primarily to which one of the following?

  • A. The Data Protection Board of India
  • B. The Data Fiduciary
  • C. The Central Government
  • D. The Consent Manager

Q5. The 'right to be forgotten' was first established as a legal right in the European Union through the 2014 ruling of which one of the following bodies?

  • A. The European Court of Human Rights
  • B. The Court of Justice of the European Union (in Google Spain v. AEPD)
  • C. The European Commission
  • D. The United Kingdom Information Commissioner's Office

Q6. With reference to the 'right to be forgotten' / right to erasure in the European Union, consider the following statements. Which one of the following statements is NOT correct?

  1. The right to erasure is codified in Article 17 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
  2. The GDPR was adopted in 2016 and became enforceable in May 2018.
  3. In Google Spain (2014), the Court of Justice of the European Union held that search engines act as data controllers.
  4. Under the GDPR the right to erasure applies only to search engines and not to any other data controllers.
  • A. 1 and 2
  • B. 2 and 3
  • C. 3 only
  • D. 4 only

Q7. Regarding the manner in which the Delhi High Court's 2026 framework operationalises de-indexing while protecting judicial records, consider the following statements: 1. Any masking must not compromise the authenticity or evidentiary value of the judicial record. 2. The substantive reasoning, findings and conclusions of a judgment may be retained even when names are masked. 3. Once a masking order is granted, search engines and legal databases must ensure the judgment no longer surfaces in name-based searches. 4. The entire judgment, including its legal reasoning, is to be deleted from the database. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. Any masking must not compromise the authenticity or evidentiary value of the judicial record.
  2. The substantive reasoning, findings and conclusions of a judgment may be retained even when names are masked.
  3. Once a masking order is granted, search engines and legal databases must ensure the judgment no longer surfaces in name-based searches.
  4. The entire judgment, including its legal reasoning, is to be deleted from the database.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 3
  • D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Q8. The following principles were articulated by the Delhi High Court in balancing the right to be forgotten against open justice. Which one of the following is NOT correct?

  1. Any masking exercise must strike a balance between privacy rights and the principle of open justice.
  2. Requests are to be assessed on a case-by-case basis rather than granted automatically or in a blanket manner.
  3. Continued name-searchability of old records can cause disproportionate and continuing harm to reputation and dignity.
  4. Open justice requires that the personal identity of every acquitted person remain permanently searchable online.
  • A. 1 and 2
  • B. 2 and 3
  • C. 1, 3 and 4
  • D. 4 only