The Supreme Court on Friday held that charge sheet filed in
criminal cases by investigating agencies cannot be put in public domain for
free access.
Dismissing a PIL seeking free public access to charge
sheets, a bench of Justices M R Shah and C T Ravikumar said uploading a charge
sheet would be contrary to the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure
(CrPC).
It said a charge sheet is not a 'public document' and
cannot be published online.
The top court on January 9 had reserved its verdict on
the plea.
The apex court had orally observed that if FIRs are
given to those unrelated to the case like busybodies and NGOs, it might be
misused.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan had submitted that it is the
duty of every public authority to put out that information suo motu.
"Every member of the public has the right to be
informed of who is accused, and who has committed a particular crime,"
Bhushan said.
The top court was hearing a plea filed by journalist
Saurav Das seeking free public access to charge sheet by police in accordance
with Section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.