SAURAV DASversusUNION OF INDIA & ORS.

                          [2023] 1 S.C.R. 731                             731


                           SAURAV DAS                                     A
                                  v.
                    UNION OF INDIA & ORS.
               (Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1126 of 2022)
                                                                          B
                         JANUARY 20, 2023
          [M. R. SHAH AND C. T. RAVIKUMAR, JJ.]
       Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973:ss. 173, 207 – Report of
police officer on completion of investigation – Writ Petition u/Art.
32 seeking direction to all the States to upload all chargesheets on      C
public domain/websites – Held: Relief sought is contrary to scheme
of CrPC – It would violate the rights of the accused as well as
victim and/or even the investigating agency – Putting the FIR on
the website cannot be equated with putting the chargesheets along
with the relevant documents on the public domain and on the websites
of the State Governments – Chargesheet are not public documents           D
u/s. 73 of the Evidence Act – Copies of chargesheet do not fall
within s. 4(1)(b) of the RTI Act – Thus, the petitioner not entitled to
the relief – Evidence Act, 1872 – s. 73, 74 – Right to Information
Act , 2005 – s.4(2).
      Dismissing the writ petition, the Court                             E
       HELD : 1.1 The petitioner is not entitled to the relief as
prayed in the present petition namely directing all the States to
put on their websites the copies of all the chargesheets/challans
filed under Section 173 of the Cr.P.C. [Para 7][736-E]
                                                                          F
      1.2 On conjoint reading of Section 173 Cr.P.C. and Section
207 Cr.P.C. the Investigating Agency is required to furnish the
copies of the report along with the relevant documents to be
relied upon by the prosecution to the accused and to none others.
Therefore, if the relief as prayed in the present petition is allowed
and all the chargesheets and relevant documents produced along            G
with the chargesheets are put on the public domain or on the
websites of the State Governments it will be contrary to the
Scheme of the Criminal Procedure Code and it may as such violate
the rights of the accused as well as the victim and/or even the
                                                                          H
                                 731
732           SUPREME COURT REPORTS                       [2023] 1 S.C.R.


A     investigating agency. Putting the FIR on the website cannot be
      equated with putting the chargesheets along with the relevant
      documents on the public domain and on the websites of the State
      Governments. [Para 4.5 ][735-E-G]
            1.3. Documents mentioned in Section 74 of the Evidence
B     Act only can be said to be public documents, the certified copies
      of which are to be given by the concerned police officer having
      the custody of such a public document. Copy of the chargesheet
      along with the necessary documents cannot be said to be public
      documents within the definition of Public Documents as per
      Section 74 of the Evidence Act.As per Section 75 of the Evidence
C     Act all other documents other than the documents mentioned
      in Section 74 of the Evidence Act are all private documents.
      Therefore, the chargesheet/documents along with the
      chargesheet cannot be said to be public documents under Section
      74 of the Evidence Act, reliance placed upon Sections 74 & 76 of
D     the Evidence Act is absolutely misplaced. [Para 5][735-H; 736-
      A-B]
            1.4. Under Section 4(2) of the RTI Act a duty is cast upon
      the public authority to take steps in accordance with the
      requirements of clause (b) of sub-Section 1 of Section 4 of the
E     RTI Act to provide as much information suo moto to the public at
      regular intervals through various means of communications.
      Copies of the chargesheet and the relevant documents along
      with the charge-sheet do not fall within Section 4(1)(b) of the
      RTI Act. Under the circumstances also the reliance placed
      upon Section 4(1)(2) of the RTI Act is also misconceived and
F     misplaced. [Para 6][736-C-D]
           Youth Bar Association of India v. Union of India (2016)
           9 SCC 473 – referred to.
                           Case Law Reference
G     (2016) 9 SCC 473              referred to              Para 4.1
           CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION : Writ Petition (Civil)
      No.1126 of 2022
                   (Under Article 32 of The Constitution of India)
H          Prashant Bhushan, Ms. Ria Yadav, Advs. for the Petitioner.
            SAURAV DAS v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS.                                  733


       The Judgment of the Court was delivered by                                A
       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 chargesheets
and final reports filed as per Section 173 of the Code of Criminal               B
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 v. 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         C
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          D
their websites has indeed induced transparency in the working of the
criminal justice system, the logic of disclosure applies more strongly to
chargesheets, for while FIRs are based on unsubstantiated allegations,
chargesheets are filed after due investigation.
       2.2 Shri Prashant Bhushan, learned counsel appearing on behalf            E
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          F
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 chargesheet is a
                                                                                 G
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
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734             SUPREME COURT REPORTS                            [2023] 1 S.C.R.


A     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
B     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
C     access to chargesheets 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
D     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
E     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 they are not taken by surprise. Therefore,
F     the directions issued by this Court are in favour of the accused, which
      cannot be stretch to the public at large so far as the chargesheets are
      concerned.
              4.2 Even the relief which is sought in the present writ petition
      directing that all the challans/chargesheets filed under Section 173 Cr.P.C.
G     shall be put on public domain/websites of the State Governments shall
      be contrary to the Scheme of the Criminal Procedure Code. As per
      Section 207 Cr.P.C. a duty is cast upon the Investigating Officer to supply
      to the accused the copy of the police report and other documents including
      the First Information Report recorded under Section 154 Cr.P.C. and
      the statements recorded under sub-Section (3) of Section 161 Cr.P.C.
H
           SAURAV DAS v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS.                                 735
                    [M. R. SHAH, J.]

       4.3 As per sub-Section 173(4) Cr.P.C. a duty is cast upon the           A
Investigating Agency to furnish or cause to be furnished to the accused,
free of cost, a copy of the report forwarded under sub-section (1) under
Section 173. Section 173(4) reads as under:
                 “173(4). After forwarding a report under this section,
                 the officer in charge of the police station shall, before     B
                 the commencement of the inquiry or trial, furnish or cause
                 to be furnished to the accused, free of cost, a copy of
                 the report forwarded under sub-section (1) and of the
                 first information report recorded under section 154 and
                 of all 41 other documents or relevant extracts thereof,
                 on which the prosecution proposes to rely, including the      C
                 statements and confessions, if any, recorded under
                 section 164 and the statements recorded under sub-
                 section (3) of section 161 of all the persons whom the
                 prosecution proposes to examine as its witnesses.”
       4.4 As per Section 173(5) Cr.P.C. when any report is filed in           D
respect of the case to which Section 170 Cr.P.C. applies, the police
officer shall forward to the Magistrate along with the report all documents
or relevant extracts thereof on which the prosecution proposes to rely
other than those already sent to the Magistrate during investigation.
        4.5 Therefore on conjoint reading of Section 173 Cr.P.C. and           E
Section 207 Cr.P.C. the Investigating Agency is required to furnish the
copies of the report along with the relevant documents to be relied upon
by the prosecution to the accused and to none others. Therefore, if the
relief as prayed in the present petition is allowed and all the chargesheets
and relevant documents produced along with the chargesheets are put            F
on the public domain or on the websites of the State Governments it will
be contrary to the Scheme of the Criminal Procedure Code and it may
as such violate the rights of the accused as well as the victim and/or
even the investigating agency. Putting the FIR on the website cannot be
equated with putting the chargesheets along with the relevant documents
on the public domain and on the websites of the State Governments.             G
       5. Now so far as the reliance placed upon on Sections 74 & 76 of
the Evidence Act is concerned, the reliance placed upon the said provisions
are also absolutely misconceived and misplaced. Documents mentioned
in Section 74 of the Evidence Act only can be said to be public documents,
                                                                               H
736              SUPREME COURT REPORTS                        [2023] 1 S.C.R.


A     the certified copies of which are to be given by the concerned police
      officer having the custody of such a public document. Copy of the
      chargesheet along with the necessary documents cannot be said to be
      public documents within the definition of Public Documents as per Section
      74 of the Evidence Act. As per Section 75 of the Evidence Act all other
      documents other than the documents mentioned in Section 74 of the
B
      Evidence Act are all private documents. Therefore, the chargesheet/
      documents along with the chargesheet cannot be said to be public
      documents under Section 74 of the Evidence Act, reliance placed upon
      Sections 74 & 76 of the Evidence Act is absolutely misplaced.
             6. Now so far as the reliance placed upon Section 4 of the RTI
C     Act is concerned, under Section 4(2) of the RTI Act a duty is cast upon
      the public authority to take steps in accordance with the requirements of
      clause (b) of sub- Section 1 of Section 4 of the RTI Act to provide as
      much information suo moto to the public at regular intervals through
      various means of communications. Copies of the chargesheet and the
D     relevant documents along with the charge-sheet do not fall within Section
      4(1)(b) of the RTI Act. Under the circumstances also the reliance placed
      upon Section 4(1)(2) of the RTI Act is also misconceived and misplaced.
             7. In view of the above and for the reason stated above, the
      petitioner is not entitled to the relief as prayed in the present petition
E     namely directing all the States to put on their websites the copies of all
      the chargesheets/challans filed under Section 173 of the Cr.P.C.
            Present writ petition lacks merits and the same deserves to be
      dismissed and is accordingly dismissed.

F     Nidhi Jain                                           Writ Petition dismissed.
      (Assisted by : Abhishek Agnihotri, LCRA)




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