On Monday, a Supreme Court division bench comprised of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha dismissed a petition filed by former Editor of Tehelka magazine Tarun Tejpal seeking in-camera hearing in the State of Goa's appeal against his acquittal in a sexual assault case.

"You cannot say that an appeal will be held in-camera. Inquiry which leads up to trial and trial is in-camera. But how can accused say a right to demand it should be in-camera?"

On the issue of whether the hearings in the appeal should take place physically or virtually, the Court said,

"A communication of the Registrar (Judicial) of Bombay High Court has submitted that Chief Justice has directed that hearings take place virtually. However, application for physical hearing was made then. Let the High Court decide whether to hear virtually or physically."

The Court was hearing Tejpal's appeal against an order of the Bombay High Court in Goa that denied his request for an in-camera hearing of the State of Goa's appeal against his acquittal in a sexual assault case. Tejpal had requested an in-camera hearing, citing Section 327 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and an order of Justice Gautam Patel of the Bombay High Court directing in-camera hearings in cases under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act.

His argument was that each party has the right to present their case in the best possible light. It would be unjust if lawyers had to limit their submissions because some publication would publish something without due care, according to the Petition.

The petitioner submitted–

"The provision has been to protect the proceedings. It is not to protect the prosecutrix. The section itself does not bring in the element that it is only to protect the prosecutrix or the manner in which the testimony is held. What happens in society today is that false cases are filed. There are cases in which intimate relationship, where even the defence may raise questions on the relationship. There may be cases where there is a charge of abetment where a male or a female may be accused. Section 372 covers the entire proceedings, not just the proceedings."

Case Title: Tarun Tejpal v State of Goa

Citation: SLP(Crl)No. 9769/2021