Calcutta High Court Commences Live-Streaming From Circuit Bench At Jalpaiguri; Total Live-Streamed Courts Up To 23, Highest In The Country

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday commenced live-streaming of court proceedings from its Circuit Bench at Jalpaiguri.

The commencement ceremony was presided over by Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam who expressed his pride and joy in noting that after the commencement of live-streaming proceedings from the four Benches at Jalpaiguri, the total number of live-streamed Courts at Calcutta High Court would reach 23, making it the highest number of courts that are being live-streamed among all High Courts in India.

Chief Justice Sivagnanam noted several advantages in live-streaming court proceedings, and shared his thoughts on how there will be multiple beneficiaries among the various stakeholders, if court-proceedings are live streamed. He said:

“The first beneficiary will be the litigant. Due to the nature of the terrain all over the State of WB, many of the times the litigants would not be able to attend court in-person to watch the proceedings, either out of curiosity, or anxiety, but through live-streaming, if they can afford a smartphone, they may be able to watch these proceedings which would give a lot of satisfaction. They may not understand nuances of law, but it gives them a great feeling to watch it. Secondly, the lawyers. In fact, I was told that lawyers often re-run the YouTube video of court proceedings and note the queries of the court in order to answer them. In fact, on our division bench, I was hearing a matter, and the senior advocate appearing from Delhi, was briefed by sending a clip of the queries posed by the Court. So live-streaming is also helping lawyers prepare for court better.”

Justice Sivagnanam added caution, bearing in mind recent events of unauthorised use of clips taken from live-streamed proceedings of the Court. Further, he clarified that in certain sensitive cases or where requested by either party, the Court may temporarily pause live-streaming. He clarified:

“There is a flip-side to it. That is why we have a disclaimer in accordance with the rules framed by the e-committee, as no part of the live proceedings can be unauthorisedly reproduced, or shared on social media. Often occurs, we are told. Each bench is entitled to mute the proceedings where confidentiality needs to be maintained. Even if lawyers on either side request the Court to not live-stream a [sensitive] matter, then that is provided for within the rules as well.”

In his address, Chief Justice Sivagnanam also acknowledged the contributions of all those who ensured that live-streaming could be commenced from the circuit bench. He further noted the reasons behind having a circuit bench, as well as the benefits and reliefs that it provides to the local population. He said:

“It is a big milestone for the High Court at Calcutta, and especially the Circuit Bench at Jalpaiguri, and all the members of the Bar at Jalpaiguri. The Bench was established to cater to such an area from where people found it very difficult to travel all the way to Calcutta to meet their lawyers, engage them, so this will further help in reaching out to the people…I congratulate each one for enabling us to inaugurate this program.”

In conclusion, Chief Justice Sivagnaman expressed pride in sharing e-initiatives undertaken by the Calcutta High Court in order to ensure a smoother legal and judicial process. He shared:

“Three initiatives have been implemented. Firstly, the e-RTI portal. The Apex Court in a writ petition had issued directions for online filing of RTIs. This has been done, and it is now operational. Even first appeals under the RTI Act, can be filed on the e-RTI portal. The second initiative is in accordance with the SC directions, the software developers of Calcutta HC along with NIC, has began an initiative of uploading translated versions of reported judgements of the SC and Calcutta HC. This will be available under “vernacular judgements” on the website and has been done with the aid of the e-committee. Finally, it is to ease the entry of litigants into the HC premises, because there can be long queues for security clearance, a software has been developed to issue e-gate pass, and this is available to all the litigants and they can schedule their visit by filling a form online, which will generate an SMS which can be used as a gate pass. Let us all congratulate the Registrar IT and his entire team.”

Chief Justice Sivagnanam ended by highlighting that further initiatives are underway for the benefit of litigants at the circuit benches, such as increasing the number of judges who hold the circuit, and convening circuit benches more frequently, to ease the trouble being faced by those in remote areas of WB and who cannot access the principal bench of the Calcutta HC.