Meghalaya High Court Commences Live Streaming Of Court's Proceedings On YouTube

In an attempt to make it convenient for the litigants and the general public to view the court proceedings from their offices and homes, the Meghalaya High Court has started live streaming its court proceedings on Youtube.

A notification to this effect was released on Wednesday by the Registrar General of the High Court stating that this move is likely to benefit young lawyers who will get the opportunity of witnessing senior advocates from other parts of the country participate on the virtual platform, which will raise the standard and the aspirations of the youth. It further states that this would also help a common man to get a better understanding of the functioning of the court.

"Pursuant to the Meghalaya High Court (Live Streaming of Court Proceedings) Rule, 2022 notified on 17' October 2022 with the objective of effectuating and broadening the implementation of the open court concept, the court proceedings of the Benches of the High Court have commenced live streaming from the 9' November 2022," the notification reads.

It may be noted that the High Court is presently functioning in a hybrid mode where both physical and virtual modes are operating together for all the courts. The Advocates/ litigants are at liberty to attend court proceedings either physically in person or virtually through video conference.

"The hybrid system has diluted the inability to access justice due to the distance, it saves time and diminishes the number of unwarranted adjournments sought on the ground that one cannot appear as one is attending court in another jurisdiction," the Notification avers.

In India, Gujarat High Court became the first court to begin live-streaming proceedings through YouTube. Presently, Gujarat, Gauhati, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, and Jharkhand High Courts are live-streaming their proceedings on YouTube.