New Delhi: Disapproving the practice of filing reports in ‘sealed covers’, Chief Justice N.V. Ramana said action taken reports need not be submitted in them, LiveLaw has reported.“Why sealed cover?” he asked the counsel appearing for Bihar government while hearing the matter pertaining to the Muzaffarpur shelter case.The matter was brought to the apex court by Bihar-based journalist Nivedha Jha opposing the blanket ban imposed by the Patna high court on media reporting Muzaffarpur shelter home case.During the course of hearing, advocate Manish Kumar, appearing for the Bihar government, said action taken report would be submitted in a “sealed cover”. He added that the state government’s action in the matter was based on recommendations made by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation).At this point, CJI Ramana questioned the practice of filing reports in a sealed cover. To this Kumar said, the CBI had been filing reports in sealed covers based on the directions from the court.“I am not concerned with this. I am not concerned with names of the girls, just the names of officers. That doesn’t have to be in sealed cover. Action taken report doesn’t have to be filed in a sealed cover,” CJI responded.Earlier, on March 21, Ramana had declined to accept documents in a sealed cover by a lawyer appearing on behalf of Patna high court.“Don’t give any sealed covers keep it with you. I don’t want any sealed cover,” Ramana had remarked back then.On the same day, a bench led by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, hearing the MediaOne case, too had said it would consider the legal tenability of the “sealed cover” process.
