Section 153B — Place of trial to be deemed to be open Court
Justice in the open. The place where a Civil Court tries a suit is deemed an open Court — the public generally may have access, so far as the room can conveniently hold them. But the presiding Judge may, in a particular case and at any stage, exclude the public (or a particular person) from the court — the limited in-camera exception.
How to read Section 153B
The open-court rule
A Civil Court trying a suit is an open Court — the public generally may attend. Justice is done in public, not behind closed doors.
Subject to space
Access is so far as the room can conveniently contain the public — a practical limit, not a restriction on the principle.
The in-camera proviso
The presiding Judge may, in a particular case and at any stage, order that the public (or a particular person) be excluded.
The bare Act
rule The place in which any Civil Court is held for the purpose of trying any suit shall be deemed to be an open Court, to which the public generally may have access so far as the same can conveniently contain them:
prov Provided that the presiding Judge may, if he thinks fit, order at any stage of any inquiry into or trial of any particular case, that the public generally, or any particular person, shall not have access to, or be or remain in, the room or building used by the Court.
1 Section 153B inserted by Act 104 of 1976, s. 52 (w.e.f. 1-2-1977).
In short: a civil trial is open to the public (as far as the room allows) — the rule of open justice. Yet the Judge keeps a discretion to hold a particular case, or part of it, in camera by excluding the public or a named person.
→ § 153B (inserted in 1976) puts the principle of open justice on a statutory footing for civil trials: the public’s presence is a check on the fairness of the process. The proviso is the recognised exception — an in-camera hearing — used where openness would defeat the very ends of justice (e.g. sensitive, matrimonial or confidential matters). The discretion is the presiding Judge’s, case by case.
Key terms decoded
A court whose proceedings are held in public — anyone may attend and watch. A cornerstone of fair and accountable justice.
Access is not limited to the parties — any member of the public may come into the courtroom.
A purely practical limit — the capacity of the room. It does not cut down the principle.
Holding the case — or part of it — privately, by excluding the public or a person. Latin: “in the chamber”.
The exclusion is case-specific and may be ordered at any point — not a blanket closing of the court.
The power to go in camera is the Judge’s, exercised “if he thinks fit” — a judicial, reasoned discretion.
The picture — open by rule, private by exception
§ 153B holds the balance: open justice is the default — the public’s eye keeps the court honest — while a narrow, reasoned discretion lets the Judge close the doors when publicity itself would do harm.
Part by part — the rule and its proviso
The rule is open justice: a civil trial is presumptively public — the only built-in limit is the size of the room.
The place in which any Civil Court is held for the purpose of trying any suit shall be deemed to be an open Court, to which the public generally may have access…
Where a civil court tries a suit, that place is an open court — the public at large may come in.
…so far as the same can conveniently contain them.
Access is bounded only by the capacity of the room — a practical matter, not a curtailment of the right.
The proviso is the in-camera exception: the Judge may, in a particular case, keep the public (or a named person) out — a reasoned, case-specific discretion.
Provided that the presiding Judge may, if he thinks fit, order at any stage of any inquiry into or trial of any particular case…
A discretion of the presiding Judge, exercisable in a particular case and at any stage of it.
…that the public generally, or any particular person, shall not have access to, or be or remain in, the room or building used by the Court.
The Judge may exclude the public at large, or just a named person — from the courtroom or building.
How the rule and proviso fit
Open by default — closed only by reasoned exception
Connected provisions
Section 153B closes Part XI’s amendment & correction group on the principle of open justice. It stands beside the Court’s inherent power (§ 151) to regulate its own process — here, the public’s access to the courtroom.