While disposing of the case, the Court observed that the matter falls under the administrative side of the High Court and not the judicial side.
Allahabad: The Allahabad High Court has recently decided not to pass any judicial orders for starting live streaming of court hearings. This decision came in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Raj Vikram Singh, who had asked the court to begin live streaming of proceedings as per the rules framed by the Supreme Court.
ALSO READ: Live Streaming Court Proceedings in India: A ‘Double-Edged’ Sword?
The case was heard by a Division Bench consisting of Justice Attau Rahman Masoodi and Justice Ajai Kumar Srivastava.
While disposing of the case, the Court observed that the matter falls under the administrative side of the High Court and not the judicial side. The Bench said that steps are already being taken to link court proceedings with digital media, especially in important cases.
“As soon as the system is adequately equipped to carry out the objectives of the live-streaming of Court proceedings as per the formulated scheme, if any, the same may be implemented leaving no room for objection from any quarters,” the Bench stated in its order passed on March 26.
The Court made it clear that the petitioner had not made any effort to find out about the current status of the proposal on the administrative side regarding live streaming. Therefore, the judges said that there was no need for the Court to intervene under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.
“That being the position, we hope that the system in place will take adequate care to implement the guidelines as may be applicable to make the working conditions more transparent and user-friendly,” the Court added.
The petitioner, Raj Vikram Singh, appeared in person, while Advocate Gaurav Mehrotra represented the High Court (on its administrative side).
ALSO READ: Rajasthan High Court Rejects PIL for Live Streaming Court Proceedings
Currently, several other High Courts in India are already live streaming their court proceedings. These include the High Courts of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Calcutta, Karnataka, and Telangana. The Delhi High Court also allows open access to their videoconferencing links so that the public can watch the proceedings in real-time.
The movement for live streaming got major support in 2018, when the Supreme Court of India, in the landmark case of Swapnil Tripathi v. Supreme Court of India, paved the way for live-streaming of court hearings, especially in Constitution Bench matters.
Later, in 2021, the Supreme Court’s e-Committee released draft model rules for live streaming and recording of court proceedings.
In its 2018 judgment, the Supreme Court had made strong observations in favour of live streaming. It said:
“Live-streaming of proceedings is crucial to the dissemination of knowledge about judicial proceedings and granting full access to justice to the litigant. Access to justice can never be complete without the litigant being able to see, hear and understand the course of proceedings first hand. Apart from this, live-streaming is an important facet of a responsive judiciary which accepts and acknowledges that it is accountable to the concerns of those who seek justice,” the apex court had observed.
