The division Bench of Justice M.R. Shah and Justice C.T. Ravikumar of the Apex court in the case of Saurav Das Vs Union of India & Ors held that copies of the chargesheet and the relevant documents along with the charge sheet do not fall within the ambit of Section 4(1)(b) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (hereinafter referred to as the “RTI Act”).
It was also held that if the chargesheet and relevant documents produced along with the charge sheet are put on the public domain or the websites of the State Governments it would be contrary to the Scheme of the Criminal Procedure Code and it may also violate the rights of the Accused, victim or the Investigating Agency.
The Bench expounded that the chargesheet/documents along with the chargesheet cannot be said to be public documents under Section 74 of the Evidence Act,1872
Brief Facts:
The present petition has been filed under Article 32 of the Indian constitution to seek appropriate directions/orders directing the Respondents-States to enable free public access to chargesheets and final reports filed as per Section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as ‘Cr. P.C’).
Contentions of the Petitioner:
It was submitted that as per Sections 207, 173(4), and 173(5) of the Cr. P.C the copy of the chargesheet along with other documents should be produced to the Accused and hence. The same should be published in the public domain to ensure transparency in the Criminal Justice System. It was further contended that the chargesheet is a public document once filed in court.
It was also submitted that according to Section 4(2) of the RTI Act public officials and public authorities are required to give the public as much information suo moto as possible regularly via a variety of communications channels, as well as the amount of information as specified in Section 4(1)(b) of the RTI Act.
Observations of the Court:
It was observed that directing that all the chargesheets filed under Section 173 Cr.P.C. shall be put on the public domain/websites of the State Governments would be contrary to the Scheme of the Criminal Procedure Code. A conjoint reading of Sections 173 and 207 of the Cr.P.C. would provide that the relevant documents are to be furnished to only the Accused and no one else.
Further, if all the chargesheets and relevant documents produced along with the chargesheets are put on the public domain or the websites of the State Governments it would be contrary to the Scheme of the Criminal Procedure Code and it may also violate the rights of the Accused, victim or the Investigating Agency. It was noted that putting the FIR on the website cannot be equated with putting the chargesheets along with the relevant documents in the public domain and the websites of the State Governments.
The Bench expounded that the chargesheet/documents along with the chargesheet cannot be said to be public documents under Section 74 of the Evidence Act,1872. Further, It was opined that the relevant documents along with the charge sheet do not fall within Section 4(1)(b) of the RTI Act.
The decision of the Court:
The Hon’ble Apex court based on the above reasons dismissed the present writ petition.
Case Title: Saurav Das Vs Union of India & Ors
Coram: Hon’ble Justice M.R. Shah and Hon’ble Justice C.T. Ravikumar
Case No: Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1126 of 2022
Citation: 2023 Latest Caselaw 60 SC
Advocate for the Petitioner: Adv. Shri Prashant Bhushan
Read Judgement @LatestLaws.com
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