A shot in the arm for transparency in judiciary: Calcutta HC in a first permits video recording of court proceedings

The Calcutta High Court created history on July 15 when Justice Aniruddha Bose directed recording of court room proceedings in a particular case, thereby creating a rare, first of its kind precedent. The order has been hailed by activists fighting for greater transparency in the judiciary and court proceedings.Acting on an order passed by Justice Aniruddha Bose, the Registry of the Calcutta High Court made all arrangements and installed a video camera and a microphone inside court hall number 24. The proceedings on July 15 were recorded for nearly 45 minutes.Justice Bose passed the order directing recording of court proceedings after persistent pleas by advocate Deepak Khosla. He had been trying to convince the judge for long to order video recording so that there is incontrovertible evidence of conduct of the counsel on the other side.According to Khosla, he was being subjected to constant heckling and abuses inside the court room and recording could prevent diminution of the standing and authority of the court.Acceding to his request on a day when the altercation between Khosla and the counsel on the other side reached a flashpoint, Justice Bose summoned registry officials and directed them to take approval from the administrative judge for setting up a camera and a microphone inside the court hall.The July 15 order by Justice Bose stated that he was allowing Khosla’s request for video recording of the proceedings since there was no objection from advocates appearing for different parties in the civil case.Justice Bose however added a caveat that “the proceedings being recorded today shall not form part of the official records of this court”. The order clarified that the recording would be for the purpose of assistance of the court, and such recording shall not be made available to any party or outsider unless otherwise directed by it.Justice Bose also added that the “court shall have the power and authority to make necessary editing of the recorded version, removing any part there from which this court considers it necessary to avoid any scandalous or undesirable or irrelevant matter to remain on record”. “As regards prayer of Mr. Khosla for video recording of the proceeding, I have permitted such recording as there was no objection from the learned Advocates appearing for the different parties. But I make it clear that the proceedings being recorded today shall not form part of the official records of this Court as there is no Rule of the Court as yet framed permitting video recording of the proceedings before the Court. The recordings would be for the purpose of assistance of this Court, like noting of submissions of the parties in course of hearing and such recording shall not be made available to any of the parties or outsiders unless otherwise directed by this Court, and this Court shall have the power and authority to make necessary editing of the recorded version, removing any part therefrom which this Court considers it necessary to avoid any scandalous or undesirable or irrelevant matter to remain on record.”It may be recollected that as recently as in January 2015, a Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu had dismissed a PIL which asked for installation of cameras inside the court halls of the top court.The CJI had then orally remarked: “You want to put CCTV in the court? Right now whatever we discuss in the innermost chamber is also out there in the public. What we discuss among judges in the collegium meetings are also out in public. There is no need for CCTV.”The Supreme Court thus continues to be out of bounds for video and audio recordings of its proceedings.Earlier, the Advisory Council of the National Committee for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms, chaired by the Minister for Law and Justice in the UPA Government, Mr. Kapil Sibal had made a recommendation for video recording of court proceedings and the judiciary’s views were sought. The Advisory Council included Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Attorney General G E Vahanvati, National Innovation Council chief Sam Pitroda and chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Law and Personnel Shantaram Naik. Sibal had said that the plan was to begin with video recording of the proceedings of the trial court. “…start with the trial courts as it is the foundation of the justice system,” he had remarked. Referring to the use of modern technology and IT in judiciary and legal system, Mr. Sibal said there was a need to put in place a “comprehensive technical plan” for the future. He had said technology should not remain limited to videographing court proceedings and “we should integrate it with the jails and the investigating process.” Sibal said the process would not be a “very expensive” affair with the availability of fiber optic connectivity. The proposal has made little headway since then.Not just the Supreme Court, even the High Courts in India have not accepted pleas for video recording of court...

A shot in the arm for transparency in judiciary: Calcutta HC in a first permits video recording of court proceedings

Ajith.S

Tags