Live-Streaming Truly Enables ‘Open Court’: Calcutta High Court Commences Live-Streaming Of Proceedings From Circuit Bench At Port Blair

The Calcutta High Court has commenced live-streaming of Court proceedings from its Circuit Bench at Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, further extending its distinction of having the highest number of live-streamed courts across all High Courts in the country.

The inauguration ceremony was presided over by Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam, who emphasised on the importance of live-streamed proceedings. He said:

“It is always said, that live-streaming has opened the doors of the Court virtually, making it truly an open court. We had to learn this technique during difficult COVID pandemic times, but this project has remained thanks to the efforts of the CJI, who has always insisted that this project should not be disbanded, because substantial revenue was spent over this facility. Therefore, Calcutta High Court has always been proactive with VC systems in all courtrooms including circuit benches and district courts.”

In reflecting on the behind-the-scenes deliberations which took place in order to make such live-streaming facilities available, the Chief Justice underlined its benefits for the members of the Bar at Port Blair. He continued:

“We debated this project in this computer committee for a long time, probably for a year or more, and we were able to successfully implement it at the principal bench, then the circuit bench at Jalpaiguri and now in Port Blair as well. By this facility, a lot of the members of Bar will be able to view Court at any time, and it can be useful for the client as well, thereby strengthening the role of the advocates.”

The Chief Justice provided further statistics on the institution and pendency of cases before the Circuit Bench at Port Blair between 1^st August 2022 to 21^st August 2023, “the statistics given to me shows that the total institution of cases, was 2002, while the disposal was 1835. We should congratulate the members of the Bar for their cooperation with the judges for speedy disposal. With the technologies, further disposal rates will increase. If disposal increases, institution will increase, which will benefit the Bar. I request members of the Bar to extend their full cooperation so that we are able to proudly say that our circuit benches are as efficient as any other High Court in the country.”

In emphasising on popularity of live-streaming facility which was only tested for a couple of days, the Chief Justice concluded:

“I thank everyone who has worked tirelessly. There is already lot of fan following for the Andaman live-streaming because people from other states have been viewing our live streams with a lot of interest and it was good news for all of them that the circuit bench at Port Blair will also be live-streamed. It is definitely a game-changer, an eye-opener, and a matter of great pride for all of us at the High Court at Calcutta.”