What do you mean by case removal or redaction request?

There are over a dozen legal research websites operating in Pakistan—but Pak Legal Database is the only one that offers a formal process for requesting removal or redaction of sensitive personal information from public judgments. While we fully support the principle of open justice and the public nature of court records, we also recognize that certain exceptional situations require compassion, discretion, and a responsible approach.

No other legal platform in Pakistan currently provides this level of transparency, accountability, and privacy consideration for individuals impacted by publicly available judgments. We’ve created a balance between legal access and individual dignity, setting a new standard for digital legal research in the country.

If you believe your situation falls within the narrowly defined privacy exceptions we recognize, we encourage you to reach out for a fair and careful review.

Why are court judgments made publicly available?

Court decisions in Pakistan are part of the public record. Once a case is heard and decided by any court—whether it's the Supreme Court, a High Court, or a District Court—the resulting judgment becomes a matter of public law and record, forming part of the legal precedent. These decisions are not private; they interpret and apply the law, impact future cases, and are therefore accessible to all citizens.

The Supreme Court’s judgments in particular are of paramount importance, as they serve as binding law across the country. The doctrine of stare decisis—meaning "to stand by things decided"—is enshrined in Article 189 of the Constitution of Pakistan, which provides:

“Any decision of the Supreme Court shall, to the extent that it decides a question of law or is based upon or enunciates a principle of law, be binding on all other courts in Pakistan.”

In line with this principle, courts across Pakistan regularly publish their judgments and orders online. These can be accessed through the official websites of the Supreme Court, High Courts, and District Courts.

At Pak Legal Database, we source our case law data directly from these official court websites, ensuring that the information we provide is already publicly available and verified.

Additionally, under Section 57(q)(ii) of the Copyright Ordinance, 1962:

“The reproduction or publication of any judgment or order of a court, tribunal or other judicial authority, unless the reproduction or publication of such judgment or order is prohibited by the court, tribunal or other judicial authority, as the case may be, shall not constitute infringement of copyright.”

Do you need permission to show court cases?

We do not require any special permission to publish court judgments, as they are public records under Pakistani law. Once a case is decided by a court, its judgment becomes part of the public domain and is accessible to all.

Online publication of judgment, does it violate my right to privacy?

In Dharamraj Bhanushankar Dave v. State of Gujarat, the Hon'ble High Court held that publishing any judgment or proceeding on a website does not fall within the realm of ‘reportable’ as traditionally understood in the context of judgments published in official law reporters. The Court further ruled that such publication does not constitute any violation of Article 226 of the Constitution. This affirms that placing court decisions online for public access is not unlawful or unconstitutional.

I’m concerned about my privacy?

We understand that some individuals may feel their privacy is affected by the publication of a court judgment. However, since these documents are already published by the courts themselves, we are not the original source—only an index that helps make legal research more efficient.

That said, we do consider genuine privacy concerns. If you believe your case contains sensitive personal information that may warrant removal or redaction, you can reach out to us with a formal request. Each request is reviewed on a case-by-case basis in line with our content policy and applicable legal standards.

However, in exceptional circumstances, we may consider requests to redact personal details—such as names, addresses, or other identifying information—in cases involving victims of sexual offences, particularly those falling under:

• Section 375–376D of the Pakistan Penal Code (offences relating to rape and sexual assault)
• Harassment-related provisions, including workplace harassment under relevant laws such as the Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2010
• Juvenile offenders or victims, in line with the Juvenile Justice System Act, 2018
• Matrimonial cases including domestic abuse, divorce and child custody cases.

If your case falls under one of these sensitive categories and you believe redaction is justified, please fill the form below or send an email to [email protected] with the link/URL of the case and a brief explanation. Each request will be carefully reviewed in accordance with applicable laws and privacy considerations.

Are Judgments on Pak Legal Database Indexed by Google or Bing and made publicly available?

No. At Pak Legal Database, we do not allow Google, Bing, or any other web crawlers or bots to index the full text of court judgments, case summaries, or any sensitive content. Only the title or citation of a case may be indexed for search purposes and only registered users may view the case summaries or jugdment.

We take deliberate technical measures to ensure that the core content of judgments and summaries remains hidden from external bots and search engines. This is part of our commitment to maintaining a balance between transparency and privacy, and to ensuring that sensitive legal data does not surface in generic internet searches.

To understand how we handle indexing and user privacy in detail, please read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

But my privacy is violated by publication of a court judgment

In R. Rajagopal vs. State of Tamil Nadu (decided on 7 October, 1994), the Supreme Court of India defined the scope of the right to privacy in relation to court records. The Court held that the publication of court judgments does not amount to a violation of the right to privacy. It observed:

“Any publication concerning the aforesaid aspects becomes unobjectionable if such publication is based upon public records including court records. This is for the reason that once a matter becomes a matter of public record, the right to privacy no longer subsists and it becomes a legitimate subject for comment by press and media among others.”

This principle reflects the broader doctrine of open justice, which applies in many common law jurisdictions, including Pakistan. Once a case is decided and the judgment is part of the public record, it becomes open to access, discussion, and citation.

Can you remove or modify my court case?

As stated earlier, we cannot remove judgments unless ordered by a competent authority, but redaction may be considered in sensitive cases as outlined above. Please keep in mind that once a judgment is published by a court, it becomes part of the public record and may exist across multiple platforms and repositories. Pak Legal Database is simply one of many sources indexing publicly available case law for legal research and reference.

However, in exceptional circumstances, we may consider requests to redact personal details—such as names, addresses, or other identifying information—in cases involving:

• Victims of sexual offences under Section 375–376D of the Pakistan Penal Code
• Workplace harassment cases under the Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2010
• Juvenile offenders or victims, in line with the Juvenile Justice System Act, 2018
• Matrimonial cases including domestic abuse, divorce and child custody cases.

If your case falls under one of these sensitive categories and you believe redaction is justified, please send an email to [email protected] with the link/URL of the case and a brief explanation. Each request will be carefully reviewed in accordance with applicable laws and privacy considerations.

If judgments are not protected by copyright, does that mean we can scrape your data?

While court judgments themselves are public records, the organization, formatting, editorial summaries, tagging, and powerful search functionality provided by Pak Legal Database are the result of significant private effort, curation, and software development. Our platform constitutes a privately constructed legal research system, and its structure and compilation are protected under Pakistani copyright law.

According to the Copyright Ordinance, 1962:

“Entitlement to copyright in compilation of data or other material shall not extend to data or other material itself and shall be without prejudice to any copyright subsisting in the data or other material, that is to say, the copyright shall subsist to the extent of compilation only.”

This means that while the judgments themselves are public documents, our unique compilation, summaries, interface, arrangement, code and tools applied to these materials are protected by copyright. The law protects the original effort and intellectual investment involved in building such databases, even when the source content is in the public domain.

Pak Legal Database actively monitors and protects its content. Legal action may be taken against individuals or entities that attempt to scrape or reuse our platform’s data without permission.