Holding that the Official Secrets Act, 1923, didn’t bar the supply of documents relied upon in the charge sheet to the accused, the Supreme Court has ordered typed copies of certain “highly confidential” documents to be provided in two months to retired Major General VK Singh facing prosecution in a 19-year-old case.The CBI had registered a case against Singh in September 2007 on a complaint accusing him of revealing secret information in his book titled ‘India’s External Intelligence Secrets of Research and Analysis Wing’.Setting aside the Delhi High Court’s September 19, 2025 order, a Bench of Justice J K Maheshwari and Justice AS Chandurkar ruled that denial of supply of documents relied upon by the prosecution in the charge sheet deprived the accused of a valuable right to defend himself during the trial.“In light of this, we are of firm opinion that the supply of documents cannot be denied to the Appellants merely on the ground that provisions of the OSA have been invoked against him… In our view, being part of the charge sheet and being used against, the said documents ought to be supplied to the appellant (Singh)”, the Bench said in its May 18 order.“The inspection of those documents, if needed, may be permitted during court proceedings by the Trial Court,” it added.It was not the CBI’s case that documents sought by Singh — a former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) official — were not relevant for trial, and the only objection taken by the prosecution was that they were highly confidential for national security and if their copies were supplied, there were chances that those may come out in the public domain, it noted.The Bench said an accused cannot be denied access to documents forming part of the charge sheet as withholding them could seriously prejudice his right to fair trial.“It is trite law that an accused cannot be denied access to documents forming part of the charge sheet, including those from the general diary, if such documents were obtained in good faith, are relevant to the prosecution’s case, and their disclosure is considered necessary by the Public Prosecutor for the interests of justice and fair trial. It is so because withholding such documents could seriously prejudice the accused’s right to a fair trial,” the top court said.Making it clear that these documents should not be made public by way of electronic or print media or any social platform or otherwise in any manner whatsoever, the Bench directed appellant Singh to file an undertaking in this regard before the trial court within a month.