No more 'sealed cover' submissions: Supreme Court slams Centre
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New Delhi: Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud slammed the Union government for "sealed cover" submissions on Wednesday while revoking the ban on Kerala-based MediaOne news channel, news agencies reported.
The bench junked the Centre's argument that the submission was made in sealed cover is because of the matter involving national security. The court slammed that no claims of national security could be made "out of thin air."
The court said that there could not be a blanket immunity for the government in disclosing information to other parties in proceeding before the court. All investigation reports cannot be kept secret since it breaches the rights and liberty of the citizens, the court observed.
The judges continued, "While public interest immunity claims conceivably impact the principles of natural justice, sealed cover proceedings infringe the principles of natural justice and open justice".
The court ruled that sealed cover proceedings should not be adopted to avoid the harm caused by public immunity proceedings. Public immunity proceedings are a less restrictive means to safeguard the public interest, the court said.
The court noted that the court's power to accept sealed cover submissions when weighed against assessing public interest immunity claims is unguided and ad-hoc.
"We want to put an end to this sealed cover procedure which is being followed by the Supreme Court because the high courts will follow it, and this is fundamentally contrary to the basic principle of fair process in a court of law" the court said.