Karnataka High Court Live Streaming Rules Approved By Full Court; Pending State's Approval, Says Registry

A division bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum in their order noted,

"It is informed that the full court has approved on September 17, the rules framed regarding live streaming of court proceedings, the matter is now pending with the state government. Learned AGA is directed to seek instructions in this regard."

The court issued the direction while hearing a petition filed by Advocate Dilraj Rohit Sequeira. The matter will be next heard after two weeks.

It was in 2018 that the Supreme Court approved in principle the concept of live-streaming of important court hearings. However, it is yet to be implemented.

'Citizens Are Entitled To Know What Goes On In The Court', Justice DY Chandrachud On Live-Streaming Of Court Proceedings

Gujarat High Court became the first court to begin live-streaming proceedings through YouTube. As of date, the Madhya Pradesh High Court has also commenced live streaming its proceedings. The Orissa High Court live streams proceedings of the Court of Chief Justice.

Recently, proceedings in some cases were live-streamed from the court of the Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court on a trial basis.

The decision to telecast court proceedings comes 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.

Read Draft Supreme Court Live Streaming Rules here. 

Case Title: Dilraj Rohit Sequeira v. Union Of India

Case No: 50892/2019