Advocate Maria Josephine
Introduction
Open justice is a long-established principle in the common law system, articulated by Lord Chief Justice Hewart, who asserted that justice should not only be done but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done. According to Bentham, ‘publicity’ is the soul of justice1, where publicity is synonymous with openness. The concept of open justice is an amalgamation of various notions, such as access to court proceedings, records and data among others, which is intended to serve a prophylactic purpose.
Open justice is not an alien concept to the Indian legal system. Constitution of India mandates that “the judgments of the Supreme Court of India shall be delivered only in open court”2. Article 21 of the Constitution of India guarantees the Right to Access Justice, which would be effective only if the public gets access to the court proceedings3. In Chief Election Commissioner of India v. MR Vijayabhaskar & Ors4., the Apex Court addressed the question of whether 'right to know' would cover judicial orders only or even to the judicial proceedings. Answering the question, it was held that, as freedom of speech and expression encompasses freedom of the press, it also includes the freedom of press to report not only judicial orders but also judicial proceedings.
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