India, July 15 -- Recognising the "right to be forgotten", the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has ordered the removal of a man's name and personal details from judgments and court records online, stating that retaining information of criminal proceedings quashed years ago would serve no public purpose.

Observing that the concept of right to privacy incorporates the right to be forgotten, a division bench of justices Urmila Joshi-Phalke and Nivedita Mehta said, "While the access to information is a fundamental aspect of democracy, the same cannot be divorced from the need to balance the right to information of the public with the individual's right to privacy."

The bench was hearing a petition filed by a 37-year-old environment an...