New Delhi, May 1 The Delhi High Court on Monday ordered several media houses to remove or disable links to news articles about a man who booked by police for allegedly trying to extort Rs 10 lakh from a friend by threatening to leak an offensive video.
Justice Prathiba M. Singh passed the order after observing that the First Information Report (FIR) filed in the case has been annulled and that the occurrence was a "immature prank".
The petitioner had gone before the court claiming that even after the FIR was dismissed pursuant to the court's orders, his employer discovered the news reports and suspended him, claiming that he wouldn't be reinstated unless those pieces were taken down.
After considering the case, the bench ordered the publishers to remove the links within 48 hours.
The Court also directed Google to block access to those links.
"Considering that the entire career of the petitioner as a young executive is likely to be jeopardised due to continued publication of the articles and keeping in mind the future of the petitioner and his mental and physical health, it is deemed appropriate to direct all the publisher to remove links to the articles," Justice Singh ordered.
The man was arrested by the Delhi Police in September 2021 for reportedly threatening to release his friend's obsecene film and demanding Rs 10 lakh from him.
Based on a settlement from earlier this year, the FIR was dismissed.
It was claimed that the complainant and the accused were friends and longtime acquaintances. This was described as a prank gone wrong as well.
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