Lawyer Has No Right To Record Proceedings: Kerala HC Mulls Contempt Action Against Adv Nedumpura For Circulating Court Clippings On WhatsApp

The Kerala High Court has held that lawyers being permitted to enter the Court proceedings through video conferencing does not mean that they can record and circulate court proceedings.

Stating thus, Justice P. Gopinath took exception to Advocate Mathews Nedumpura's conduct in recording and circulating court proceedings through WhatsApp. The bench observed that such action prima facie constitutes contempt of court as it not only lowers the court's dignity but is also prohibited under the relevant rules.

It thus directed its registry to place the matter before the Chief Justice to consider whether this issue should be taken up on the judicial side.

Nedumpura had argued that it is his 'right' to record the proceedings of this Court and circulate it in any manner that he deems fit. He stated that transparency is absolutely essential in judicial proceedings and therefore he has a right to record and circulate the proceedings of the Court.

Negating this contention, the Court cited the 'Electronic Video Linkage Rules for Courts (Kerala), 2021' as also the 'Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) - Attending of Court Proceedings through Video Conferencing before the High Court of Kerala' that expressly prohibit the recording of the court proceedings in any manner.

It observed,

"I am prima facie of the opinion that the recording of proceedings of this Court and circulating it in the manner indicated above constitute contempt of court as it amounts to interference with the administration of justice and lowers the dignity of this Court especially when the Rules of this Court prohibit recording of the proceedings of this Court. Therefore, I direct the Registry to place this judgment before Hon'ble the Chief Justice to consider whether this issue should be taken up on the judicial side by a Bench to be nominated by Hon'ble the Chief Justice.Ordered accordingly". 

The Court made this observation while dealing with a batch of petition filed by companies challenging SARFAESI proceedings initiated against them by various banks.

Case Title: M/s M. D. Esthappan And Another v Reserve Bank of India and Others & Connected Cases

Click Here To Read/ Download Order