The Court of Appeal this morning upheld the decision of the Chief Justice not to gag the media from reporting further revelations from a leaked Police dossier on the Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC) scandal.

However, the ruling does not mean full details of the top-secret file are likely to become public just yet. The Police Commissioner and Attorney General, who have been seeking the injunction against the media, are now seeking permission to take their fight to the Privy Council in London – the highest court of appeal in the UK.

It was revealed in court this morning that the Privy Council was poised to hear legal arguments about this at 10.30 a.m. this morning – just 30 minutes after the Court of Appeal delivered its ruling. However, President Justice Edward Zacca said this was not necessary. Instead, he and fellow judges Gerald Nazareth and Sir Austin Ward will hear lawyer Delroy Duncan, representing Commissioner George Jackson and Attorney General Philip Perinchief, argue in favour of going to the Privy Council tomorrow morning.

Saul Froomkin QC, representing this newspaper and sister paper the Mid-Ocean News told the court he would oppose this.

In the meantime, the judges ordered that Bermuda's broadcasting organisations and the Bermuda Sun should not report further material from the dossier until the matter is decided. The Mid-Ocean News and The Royal Gazette have agreed to extend a previous undertaking made not to do.

The judges also ordered the Police Commissioner and Attorney General to pay the legal costs of the media organisations relating to the appeal.

The ruling came after Chief Justice Richard Ground ruled a week ago that the right of the public to know about the probe into serious allegations about public figures including Premier Ewart Brown outweighed concern that the file was a confidential Police document.

Police Commissioner George Jackson and Attorney General Philip Perinchief launched the action against the Island's media outlets after ZBM and the Mid-Ocean News published extracts from the documents on May 23 and June 1 respectively.

The leaked dossier – said to run to thousands of pages – reportedly revealed that Dr. Brown, former Premier Jennifer Smith, former Minister Renée Webb and construction boss Zane DeSilva were investigated by Police looking into allegations of corruption at the BHC.

The Commissioner and Attorney General asked for a ban on the so-far unpublished sections being reported, although the contents have not been revealed during the court hearings.

After Mr. Justice Ground ruled against them, the pair took their fight to the Court of Appeal.

The Police investigation into the source of the leak to the media has seen three arrests, but no charges. Two men were detained and released earlier this month. Auditor General Larry Dennis - the Government's fiscal watchdog – was arrested and released after 24 hours in custody last week.

Read the full story on the appeal in tomorrow's edition of The Royal Gazette.