Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Google Continues To Censor News In India

Google has been engaging in censorship and filtering of results in India for long. This includes censorship and filtering of blog posts, news, robots restrictions, etc. The latest to add to this list is the news article titled “Radia Tapes, Ratan Tata’s Privacy, Fundamental Rights and Public Interest” that has been censored on 05-09-2012.

The news article in question has nothing controversial but it is discussing about some of the most corruption related aspects of India. Perhaps, the article has brought out in public the dirty linen of Indian government but the censorship act of Google has also brought Google’s dirty linen in public as well.

It seems Indian government is not interested in putting the truth before the public at large. First it claimed that it has destroyed the Radia tapes and then it claimed that the investigation is still going on so the tapes are required to be kept in safe custody.

However, the Indian government has still not told the Supreme Court of India who leaked the tapes. It seems public interest is not important and all the Indian government is doing is hiding of the dirty facts and truths of Radia tapes controversy.

As opined by Praveen Dalal, managing partner of ICT law firm Perry4Law, “The Indian Constitutional Scheme is based upon “Balance of Rights” and no right is absolute in nature. In case of conflict between two Fundamental Rights, the Fundamental Right that strengthens and substantiate the Public Interest should prevail”. Hence if there is a conflict between Right to Privacy and Right to Information/know, information can be disclosed in certain circumstances to substantiate and strengthen Public Interest, opines Dalal.  

It is high time for Indian government to disclose who leaked the Radia tapes. Similarly, the Supreme Court of India must also keep in mind the balance of fundamental rights as citizens of India have a right to know about the corrupt practices happening within the governmental functioning.