The decision, which is based on the courts opinion that the transcript should remain sealed until the murder case is decided, is the latest development in the scandal involving the looting of estates of elderly people, and Mr. Eagens role in appointing guardians to oversee those estates.

The discussion in question involved a grand jury probe of the estates scandal that Lackawanna County District Attorney Michael Barrasse was conducting at the time. The newspapers sought the transcripts after learning that the judges possible involvement in the investigation may have been discussed at the hearing.

With the higher courts ruling, parts of the transcript proper names and other references remain sealed from the public.

The transcript is of a November 1996 hearing in chambers involving the judge and prosecution and defense attorneys in the case of murder defendant William Sartin. Mr. Sartin is charged with the 1993 rape and murder of 7-year-old Sheena Marie Jones.

Two days after the hearing, Mr. Eagen recused himself, without explanation, from presiding over the case and sealed the hearing transcript. His recusal also extended to all other criminal cases.

In subsequent newspaper interviews, the judge said he withdrew because of a pending disciplinary action he had brought against a local attorney someone not connected to the Sartin case.

Mr. Eagen said some of the lawyers in the Sartin case who include Mr. Barrasse, Assistant District Attorney Andrew Jarbola, and public defenders James Walker and Tracy Diskin could be potential witnesses in the disciplinary matter. The hearing in his chambers involved discussion of that matter.

The Times-Tribune newspapers petitioned Lackawanna County Court to have the transcript unsealed. Judge Carmen Minora ordered parts of the transcript released. It was clear from the unsealed portions that part of the discussion dealt with a county grand jurys investigation into the looting of estates and the judges possible role in it.

A grand jury subsequently issued a presentment recommending criminal charges against Mr. Eagen for his role in the estates scandal. The presentment was immediately sealed. No charges have yet been filed.

Judge Minoras ruling on the transcript ordered a limited sealing of the documents to balance the issues of the publics right to know with the secrecy of grand jury proceedings.

The Superior Court, in its opinion, ruled that the transcript issue does not need to be addressed until there is a final disposition of the Sartin case. The panel said the publics right of access to judicial proceedings would not be irrevocably lost by keeping certain transcript sections sealed until the Sartin case concludes.