Delhi HC successfully begins live streaming of court proceedings

The Delhi High Court Wednesday live streamed the hearing of a matter on its official website for the first time with a view to make the court proceedings easily accessible to all.

The proceedings of court no. 1 comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula in a case was “successfully” live streamed from 10:33 am to 11:43 am, a statement issued by the high court said.

“With a view to make the court proceedings easily accessible to all in this digital age, the High Court of Delhi, under the guidance and visionary leadership of Hon’ble Chief Justice and Hon’ble Information Technology Committee, made this seminal achievement of live streaming of court proceedings in furtherance of its various ICT-enabled services for the benefit of lawyers, litigants and public at large,” the statement said.

For now, the live streaming of court proceedings will be conducted on case to case basis, as per the directions of the court and the live streaming of court proceedings will start very soon in the high court’s court no. 39, where another division bench conducts its proceedings, it said.

Court no. 1 of the high court generally deals with public interest litigations.

The statement said the Public Works Department has installed the necessary infrastructure for live streaming in coordination with the information technology and caretaking branches of the high court.

An earlier communication from the high court had clarified that the live-streamed content is for information purpose only and shall not constitute the official record of the court proceedings.

It also said that no person/entity, including print and electronic media, and social media platforms, other than those authorised, shall record, share and/or disseminate the content.

In January, the high court had notified the rules for live streaming and recording of proceedings.

'Live Streaming and Recording of Court Proceedings Rules of the High Court of Delhi, 2022’, framed by the high court with the prior approval of the lieutenant governor of Delhi, came into force from January 13 when they were published in the gazette.

As per the rules, all proceedings will be live-streamed by the court excluding matrimonial, child adoption and child custody matters, cases concerning sexual offences and gender-based violence against women, and matters registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act.

Several other categories of cases have also been excluded from being streamed live.