India, Sept. 30 -- The Supreme Court has held that an accused can not only inspect documents seized during investigation but not relied upon by the prosecution, but can also have specific documents brought before witnesses during the trial if they are relevant to the defence, settling a contentious procedural issue that has surfaced in several high-profile criminal cases.

A bench of justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran said that an accused is entitled to documents available with the prosecuting agency to shape his defence, while clarifying that the stage at which particular documents can be sought would depend on the nature and relevance of the material.

The ruling came in a case arising from an alleged conspiracy between 2010 and...