Sealed Cover Jurisprudence: All about it.
~Preet. While hearing a criminal appeal against the Bihar government, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) recently chastised a counsel for submitting a'sealed cover report' to the court. Courts have regularly used sealed cover jurisprudence in recent years, for example, in the Rafale Fighter Jet Deal 2018, 2014, the BCCI Reforms Case, the Bhima Koregaon Case 2018, and so on. It is a practise utilised by the Supreme Court and sometimes lesser courts of requesting or accepting material from government entities in sealed envelopes that only judges may open. While the theory of sealed cover is not defined by law, the Supreme Court draws its authority to apply it from Rule 7 of Order XIII of the Supreme Court Rules and Section 123 of the Indian Evidence Act of 1872. According to Rule 7 of Order XIII of the Supreme Court Rules, if the Chief Justice or court directs that certain information be kept under sealed cover or is of a confidential nature, no party will be permitted to access