Karnataka HC starts live streaming on experimental basis

The Karnataka High Court, on Monday, for the first time, streamed the live telecast of court proceedings on YouTube.

The further hearing on two clubbed PILs filed on the Karwar port expansion issue was telecast on Monday afternoon.

Prior to the telecast, Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka informed the advocates in these petitions about the decision to stream live proceedings. “It is our duty to put the members of the bar on the notice,” the chief justice said orally.

The chief justice also said that the live streaming of the proceeding is being done on an experimental basis. A further decision on continuing with the live streaming will be taken based on the inputs.

The High Court has been conducting proceedings on the virtual mode in the wake of a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases.

The legal fraternity has been demanding the live streaming of the court proceeding in the interest of the public/litigants.

Supreme Court counsel K V Dhananjay hailed it as a great step forward. “The legal community should be grateful to Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka. In the coming days, we expect different courtrooms of the High Court to provide live streaming. May be going forward, we would see district courts also wired for the facility. This is important in view of greater accountability and transparency,” he said.

Earlier, the Gujarat High Court had started live streaming on YouTube. The move was with a view to effectuating and broadening the implementation of the open court concept.