Telangana High Court To Commence Live Streaming Of Its Proceedings On A Test Basis From October 10
The Telangana High Court has decided to 'Live Stream its proceedings from 10th October 2022. The court proceedings of Court Hall No.1 will be live-streamed/recorded on a test basis from October 10. The Court Officer would be informing the Advocates before the commencement of the arguments that the proceedings are being live-streamed/recorded and that objections if any, should be articulated...
The Telangana High Court has decided to 'Live Stream its proceedings from 10th October 2022. The court proceedings of Court Hall No.1 will be live-streamed/recorded on a test basis from October 10.
The Court Officer would be informing the Advocates before the commencement of the arguments that the proceedings are being live-streamed/recorded and that objections if any, should be articulated at that juncture to the Bench. Objection to Live streaming can be raised by the party/counsel at the time of institution of the case or any later stage, however, the final decision in this regard shall be of the Bench.
It may be noted that in May 2022, the Telangana High Court had written to the State Government asking it to publish rules on Telangana High Court Live Streaming and Recording Of Court Proceedings in the official gazette.
It was also informed to the Government that the Chief Justice of the High Court had approved the rules for Live Streaming of court proceedings and they shall be deemed to have come into effect on May 1, 2022.
Significantly, Telangana HC Advocate Srilekha Poojari had moved a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) plea last year seeking a direction to the HC to frame the concerned rules as per the directions of the Supreme Court. In Feb 2022, the Court asked the HC administration to file a reply in the matter.
In India, Gujarat High Court became the first court to begin live-streaming proceedings through YouTube. Presently, Gujarat, Gauhati, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, and Patna High Courts are live-streaming their Court proceedings on YouTube.
Notably, on August 26, the Supreme Court's proceedings were live-streamed for the first time. The proceedings before the ceremonial bench of the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on his last working day as a Supreme Court judge was live-streamed.
Thereafter, in a historic move, the Constitution Bench hearings in the Supreme Court started live-streaming on September 26, 2022.
The decision to telecast court proceedings came in the backdrop of the Supreme Court's verdict in Swapnil Tripathi v. Supreme Court of India, permitting live streaming of court hearings. "Sunlight is the best disinfectant", the Top Court had remarked therein.