Former Supreme Court judge J. Chelameswar on Wednesday said he wouldn’t have resorted to a “sealed-cover procedure” had he been hearing petitions on the Rafale deal as it was neither the norm nor the right thing to do.

However, Justice Chelameswar said the law does permit courts to accept certain documents in a sealed cover in exceptional matters.

“Sealed-cover response is not the right thing in our judicial system. Sealed cover or in-camera proceeding is not the norm for Indian judiciary. In rare cases where information protection is needed, sealed cover can be opted for,” Justice Chelameswar told news channel ET Now in an interview.

“It (accepting a sealed-cover report) is not the norm and the right thing, but the law itself recognises in exceptional situations where certain information is to be protected. But what are those cases where the principle is rightly invoked… is a matter of individual analysis, but if it becomes a norm then it is not proper. If I was there I wouldn’t have done it, that’s all. I wouldn’t have resorted to this sealed-cover procedure,” Justice Chelameswar added.

The Supreme Court had asked the Centre to provide details of the decision-making process in the Rafale fighter jet deal with France in a sealed cover.

Justice Chelameswar had conducted an unprecedented media conference on January 12 at his residence accusing then Chief Justice Dipak Misra of acting in an arbitrary manner and allocating various important cases to benches of his choice.

Incidentally, current Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had also been among the four judges who spoke out. The pleas on the Rafale deal were heard by a bench headed by Justice Gogoi.

Justice Chelameswar said on Wednesday that he found nothing wrong in courts correcting their own judgments as long as there were some mistakes. The Centre has urged the Supreme Court to correct certain portions of the Rafale judgment.