New Delhi: Concerned over rampant, unauthorised online access of judicial proceedings and their circulation on social media, the Supreme Court is actively working to frame guidelines for checking such recordings and broadcasting done without permission.
A committee of three judges is looking into the issues arising from online access of courtroom hearings, its recording and use on private as well as public handles in these cases.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, according to Supreme Court sources, has set-up a panel under Justice PS Narasimha to hold discussions with all the stakeholders before finalising the guidelines. Justices Aravind Kumar and K.V. Vishwanathan are the other panel members.
The sources confirmed to ThePrint that suggestions were invited from lawyers practicing in the Supreme Court. A letter was sent to advocate Vipin Nair, president of Supreme Court of Advocates-On-Record (SCAORA)—a body representing Advocates-On-Record (AoR) in the top court.
Under the top court rules, only an AoR is allowed to file cases and documents in a pending matter and hire an arguing counsel to represent a client before the judges.
The views of AoRs have been sought on live-streaming of courtroom proceedings, its recording, access regulation and archival. The lawyers are also required to give their inputs on prevention of unauthorised use of video recordings, live-streamed videos or video-conferencing footage of the court proceedings.
It may be recalled that online access of Supreme Court hearings, which traditionally were physical and attended by the parties to the dispute, commenced in 2020 due to the onset of Covid. As physical hearings were stopped to prevent the spreading of the virus, virtual hearings became the norm then.
Online access of the court proceedings were permitted only through the Supreme Court App, the link of which was only shared with the AoRs who were authorised to provide it to their clients and arguing counsel.
However, as the pandemic receded, the court returned to physical hearings with limited attendance. In such a situation, the top court allowed online appearances of lawyers.
In April 2022, the SC officially resumed full-fledged physical hearings and restrictions on physical attendance were done away. While daily operations returned to in-person, a hybrid option remained available for specific days, particularly Mondays and Fridays.
A few months later, in September, the top court started a live telecast of its constitution bench matters on its own portal. This development came four years after the top court, on the judicial side, principally accepted the idea of live streaming of court hearings. Live streaming of Constitution Bench matters was seen as the apex court’s first step towards transparency in the justice delivery system.
Even as various High Courts began live-streaming of their regular courtroom proceedings, making them public, through their respective YouTube channels, the top court refrained from doing so.
But, it did not stop lawyers from appearing online to argue their cases and continued with the hybrid option. Except for the constitutional bench matters, no other proceedings were available for public viewing. Hence, video links of proceedings were never made public and continued to be provided only to the AoR.
But over a period of time, it was noted that the access to these online links were being shared publicly, enabling even those unconnected with the disputes pending in the court to attend the hearings. Thereafter, video recordings and footage of these hearings were available on social media platforms.
“Since the Supreme Court is not on a public platform, it’s a matter of concern as to how its proceedings are being recorded and circulated. Officially, the Supreme Court is not live-telecasting its proceedings, therefore, no rules or guidelines were framed. Hence, such circulation or posting on private social media platforms is impermissible for now,” an official of the top court told ThePrint.
Rampant use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the possibility of its misuse to such footage is a cause of concern for the top court and its judges.
SCAORA president Vipin Nair welcomed SC’s move, but added there should be safeguards to check unauthorised usage considering it could have a bearing on privacy of the parties.
He told ThePrint that the Bar body was not opposed to live-streaming of court proceedings as it allows citizens to directly witness judicial hearings. “One of the most cardinal principles in law is that justice must not only be done but must also be seen to be done. Live streaming reduces secrecy and builds trust in judicial functioning.”
However due regard to Protecting Privacy and Sensitive Information on the one hand and Technological and Administrative uniformity on the other should be ensured, he added. Hence, he called for proper guidelines so that live streaming becomes a tool for strengthening the justice delivery system and not undermining justice.
ThePrint spoke to SCAORA’s honorary secretary Nikhil Jain who did not comment on the development, but expressed concern over the manner in which courtroom proceedings are being publicised and exploited for commercial gains.
“There should be strict guidelines to streamline the use and misuse of online hearings. Judicial proceedings are sacrosanct. They cannot be converted into commercial ventures,” he said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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