in camera

The general rule is that courts sit in open court. A hearing in camera (literally “in a chamber”) is an exception, allowed where publicity would defeat justice, embarrass a victim or witness, or harm a protected interest. Section 366 BNSS (old s.327 CrPC) makes every criminal court an open court, but its sub-section (2) requires the inquiry and trial of rape and certain other sexual offences, and of specified POCSO offences, to be held in camera. Section 22 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 provides for matrimonial proceedings in camera.

In Naresh Shridhar Mirajkar (1966) the Supreme Court held that a High Court has inherent power to hold a trial in camera, or forbid publication of a witness's evidence, where that is necessary for the administration of justice, and that such an order does not violate Article 19(1)(a).

Example

The trial for rape was held in camera under s.366(2) BNSS, and the victim's name was not disclosed in the judgment.

In Indian law

• Section 366, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (old s.327 CrPC)
• Section 22, Hindu Marriage Act, 1955
• Naresh Shridhar Mirajkar v. State of Maharashtra, 1966 INSC 64

See also

trial · freedom of speech and expression · inherent powers

Read more in the study notes

• Judicial power of the administration: quasi-judicial functions and administrative adjudication (Administrative Law)
• Corruption, maladministration and the ombudsman: Lokpal and Lokayukta (Administrative Law)
• Central Vigilance Commission, parliamentary committees and commissions of inquiry (Administrative Law)
• Mediation: meaning, the mediator and essential characteristics (Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems)
• The Mediation Act, 2023: scheme, enforcement and status (Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems)
• Trial before a Court of Session (Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita)