Summary
A public interest petition under Article 32 sought a direction that all States publish charge-sheets and final reports under Section 173 CrPC on their websites. It relied on Youth Bar Association, which required FIRs to be uploaded. The Supreme Court dismissed the petition. The FIR direction was made to protect accused persons from surprise and harassment, and cannot be extended to the public at large. Sections 173 and 207 CrPC require copies of the report and documents to be supplied to the accused and to no one else, and publishing them could prejudice the accused, the victim and the investigation. A charge-sheet is not a public document under Section 74 of the Evidence Act, and it falls outside Section 4(1)(b) of the RTI Act.
Issues
- Whether the States can be directed to publish all charge-sheets and final reports filed under Section 173 CrPC on their websites for free public access.
Provisions considered
- Sections 173(4), 173(5) and 207, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973Copies of the police report and the documents relied on are to be furnished to the accused and forwarded to the Magistrate, and to none others; publication on websites would be contrary to the scheme of the Code. (¶¶ 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5)
- Sections 74, 75 and 76, Indian Evidence Act, 1872A charge-sheet and its accompanying documents are not public documents under Section 74 and are therefore private documents under Section 75. (¶ 5)
- Sections 4(1)(b) and 4(2), Right to Information Act, 2005Charge-sheets and accompanying documents are not among the categories of information that public authorities must disclose suo motu. (¶ 6)
Held
- Youth Bar Association of India directed publication of FIRs within 24 hours in the interest of the accused so that they are not taken by surprise and can seek relief; that direction cannot be stretched to require public access to charge-sheets. (¶ 4.1)
- Placing all charge-sheets and accompanying documents in the public domain would be contrary to the scheme of Sections 173 and 207 CrPC and may violate the rights of the accused, the victim and the investigating agency; uploading an FIR is not comparable. (¶ 4.5)
- Reliance on Sections 74 and 76 of the Evidence Act and Section 4 of the RTI Act is misplaced, so the petitioner is not entitled to the relief sought. (¶¶ 5, 6, 7)
Result
Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1126 of 2022 under Article 32 dismissed.