My Lord, Recent Events?

Hon’ble Justice Ranjan Gogoi quoted a Judgment authored under Chief Justiceship of Hon’ble Justice A.N. Ray; Hon’ble Justice K.M. Joseph quoted a Judgment authored by Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, Hon’ble Justice A.N. Ray.

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An issue has been raised by Learned Attorney General with regard to the manner in which 3 documents in question had been procured and placed before Court. In this regard, as already noticed, the documents have been published in ‘The Hindu’ on different dates. That apart, even assuming the documents have not been procured in a proper manner, should the same be shut out of consideration by Court? In Pooran Mal, AIR 1974 SC 348 this Court has taken the view, “where the test of admissibility of evidence lies in its relevancy, unless there is an express or necessarily implied prohibition in the Constitution or other law, evidence obtained as a result of illegal search or seizure is not liable to be shut out.”

– Hon’ble Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Yashwant Sinha v. CBI, [Review Petition (Criminal) No. 46 of 2019].

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In Raj Narain, AIR 1975 SC 865, Chief Justice A.N. Ray observed:

“Court will proprio motu exclude evidence the production of which is contrary to public interest. It is in public interest that confidentiality shall be safeguarded. The reason is that such documents become subject to privilege by reason of their contents. Confidentiality is not a head of privilege. It is a consideration to bear in mind. It is not that the contents contain material which it would be damaging to the national interest to divulge but rather that the documents would be of class which demand protection.”

– Hon’ble Justice K.M. Joseph, Yashwant Sinha v. CBI, [Review Petition (Criminal) No. 46 of 2019].