Litigation friends and limits to the principles of open justice

Srichand Hinduja v Gopichand Hinduja and Others [2020] EWHC 1533 (Ch) concerns a dispute between the well-known businessmen, the Hinduja brothers, in circumstances where it is said that Srichand Hinduja, the eldest brother and claimant, had lost capacity to litigate. The court reviewed the law on litigation friends. The defendants, who were Srichand’s three brothers, also wanted the public’s access to various documents restricted and therefore the judgment also considers recent jurisprudence on limits to the principle of open justice. In dealing with these issues the case provides a summary of the law, likely to be of use to practitioners in a wide range of cases.