How to Get Right to Be Forgotten
in Kochi
A legal step-by-step guide for Kochi residents and businesses. India has no statutory Right to Be Forgotten in force yet, but High Courts have granted de-indexing relief under Article 21. The right to erasure in Section 12 of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 comes into force in May 2027.
Identify the content: historical content, outdated information, or acquitted criminal records that continue to harm reputation.
Assess eligibility: Right to Be Forgotten is stronger for acquitted individuals, victims of crimes, and content with no ongoing public interest.
High Court petition: filed at the relevant High Court as a writ petition under Article 226, invoking the right to privacy under Article 21.
Google India notice: formal notice to Google's India operations demanding de-indexing pending the court order.
Court order enforcement: once the High Court issues an order, it is served on all search engines and platform operators.
Right to Be Forgotten in Kochi: the local legal context
Kochi falls within the Kerala High Court, which sits in the city. Kochi's strong professional culture — with significant presence of IT companies, healthcare institutions, and finance sector employers — creates a distinctive defamation risk profile including Glassdoor attacks targeting Kerala-based IT employers and social media defamation targeting medical professionals.
Glassdoor reviews targeting Kochi IT and BPO employers
Medical professional defamation through Kerala-language social media
Right to Be Forgotten applications for dated adverse content
Kochi content matters involve Malayalam-language news portals, regional YouTube channels with strong subscriber bases, and TripAdvisor and Google Reviews for the city's tourism and hospitality industries.
Kerala High Court sits at Kochi but has no original civil side, so a civil suit starts in the competent civil court in Kochi.
Highest-risk Kochi industries: Tourism and hospitality businesses (TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, Booking.com defamation during peak seasons), Malayalam-cinema professionals (regional YouTube and social media coordinated attacks), and seafood-export and shipping businesses.
In Kochi, right-to-be-forgotten relief rests on the Information Technology Act 2000 (Section 79 read with IT Rules 2021, which set platform deadlines of three hours on a court order, two hours on intimate images or impersonation of a person, and seven days on most other complaints, defamation included), criminal defamation under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 s.356 (formerly IPC 499/500), and civil injunctions from the competent civil court in Kochi. Across 25+ cities RepuLex maintains a 97% case success rate — permanent removal, not suppression.
India has no statutory Right to Be Forgotten in force yet, but High Courts have granted de-indexing relief under Article 21. The right to erasure in Section 12 of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 comes into force in May 2027.
How long does it take to get right to be forgotten in Kochi?+
A writ petition under Article 226 runs on Kerala High Court's calendar, usually weeks to months. A de-indexing request to Google can be filed in parallel while it is pending. The right to erasure in Section 12 of the DPDP Act 2023 comes into force only in May 2027.
Can RepuLex help you get right to be forgotten in Kochi?+
Yes. RepuLex takes on this work for clients across Kerala and the rest of India; legal notices and court filings are drafted and served by the partner law firm. The IT Act 2000 and the IT Rules 2021 apply to every intermediary offering services in India, wherever the platform is hosted, so a notice for a Kochi client runs the same way as one sent from anywhere else. Where a court order is needed, the partner law firm files in the competent civil court in Kochi, and before Kerala High Court for writ petitions.
What does it cost to get right to be forgotten in Kochi?+
This work is not priced per URL. After the free case assessment it is scoped and quoted as a fixed fee before any commitment, and there is no monthly retainer. The per-URL removal rates are on the pricing page.
Need help? RepuLex handles it for you in Kochi.
Free assessment · Fixed fee · Kerala High Court jurisdiction · Written confirmation