IMPORTANT POINT
Charge-sheet/documents along with charge-sheet cannot be said to be public documents under Section 74 of Evidence Act – Copies of charge-sheet and relevant documents along with charge-sheet do not fall within Section 4(1)(b) of RTI Act.

JUDGMENT :

M.R. SHAH, J.

1. By way of this petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India the petitioner has prayed for appropriate directions/orders directing the respondents-States to enable free public access to charge-sheets and final reports filed as per Section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as ‘Cr.P.C’) in furtherance of the rationale as established by this Court in Youth Bar Association of India vs. Union of India, (2016) 9 SCC 473 on their websites.

2. Shri Prashant Bhushan, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner has heavily relied upon the decision of this Court in the case of Youth Bar Association of India (supra) by which this Court directed copies of FIRs to be published within 24 hours of their registration on the police websites or on the websites of the State Governments.

2.1 It is the case on behalf of the petitioner that while the direction of this Hon’ble Court directing the police to publish copies of FIRs on their websites has indeed induced transparency in the working of the criminal justice system, the logic of disclosure applies more strongly to charge-sheets, for while FIRs are based on unsubstantiated allegations, charge-sheets are filed after due investigation.

2.2 Shri Prashant Bhushan, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner has taken us to the Scheme of the Code of Criminal Procedure more particularly Sections 207, 173(4) and 173(5) of the Cr.P.C and relying upon the said provisions it is vehemently submitted that as per the aforesaid provisions when a duty is cast upon the Investigating Agency to furnish the copy of the challans/charge-sheets along with all other documents to the accused, the same also should be in the public domain to have the transparency in the working of the Criminal Justice System.

2.3 Shri Prashant Bhushan, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner has also vehemently submitted that the charge-sheet is a public document once filed in the Court. Reliance is placed on Sections 74 and 76 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. It is submitted that even under Section 4(2) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘RTI Act’) a duty is cast upon the public officer/public authority to provide as much information suo-moto to the public at regular intervals through various means of communications and to provide as much information as mentioned in Section 4(1)(b) of the RTI Act.

Making the above submissions, it is prayed to grant the relief as sought in the present petition.

3. We have heard Shri Prashant Bhushan, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner at length.

4. At the outset, it is required to be noted that by way of present writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner by way of Public Interest Litigation has prayed for an appropriate direction/order directing all the States in the country to enable free public access to charge-sheets and final reports filed as per Section 173 of the Cr.P.C. on their websites.

4.1 For the aforesaid heavy reliance is placed on the decision of this Court in the case of Youth Bar Association of India (supra). On going through the decision of this Court in the case of Youth Bar Association of India (supra), the reliance placed upon the same by the counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner for the relief sought in the present petition is thoroughly misconceived and misplaced. In the aforesaid decision this Court directed that the copies of the FIRs should be published within 24 hours of their registrations on the police websites or on the websites of the State Government. From the entire judgment it appears that this Court directed the copies of the FIRs to be published within 24 hours on the police websites or on the websites of the State Government. Looking to the interest of the accused and so that the innocent accused are not harassed and they are able to get the relief from the competent court and t