GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 18th Jan. According to the Supreme Court, online sources such as Wikipedia are based on a crowdsourced and user-generated editing model that is not completely dependable and can promote misleading information.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Vikram Nath acknowledged the usefulness of platforms that provide free access to knowledge around the world, but cautioned against using such sources for legal dispute resolution.
“We say so for the reason that these sources, despite being a treasure trove of knowledge, are based on a crowd sourced and user generated editing model that is not completely dependable in terms of academic veracity and can promote misleading information as has been noted by this court on previous occasions also,” the bench said on Tuesday.
According to the Supreme Court, courts and adjudicating authorities should try to persuade counsel to rely on more reliable and authentic sources.
The remarks were made in a decision concerning the proper classification of imported ‘All in One Integrated Desktop Computers’ under the First Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act of 1985.
The Supreme Court observed that adjudicating authorities, particularly the Commissioner of Customs (Appeal), relied heavily on online sources such as Wikipedia to support their conclusions.
It’s interesting to note that Justice Markandey Katju, a former chief justice of the Supreme Court, used Wikipedia to define “common law marriage” while delivering a ruling in 2010.
Justice Katju used information from Wikipedia to develop a four-point guideline and ruled that live-in relationships must meet it in order to be classified as a “relationship” in the nature of marriage under the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act, 2005.
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