Chargesheet Not a Public Document: Supreme Court

On 20th January, 2023, the Supreme Court dismissed a PIL seeking a direction to all states to enable free public access to chargesheets and final reports filed by investigating agencies on their websites.

What Supreme Court Said?

  • The top court made the observations while hearing a plea by journalist Saurav Das seeking free public access to chargesheets and final reports filed as per Section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
  • Dismissing the plea, the Court held that a chargesheet cannot be made publicly available as it’s not a ‘public document’ under Sections 74 and 76 of the Evidence Act.
  • Putting ....
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