HC notice to State on plea for recording proceedings
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday ordered issue of notices to the State and Union governments, the Karnataka State Bar Council, and High Court’s registry on a PIL petition to make provision for audio-video recording of the proceedings of the High Court, sub-ordinate courts and tribunals in Karnataka on the lines of a direction issued by the apex court for recording and live-streaming its proceedings.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Hemant Chandangoudar passed the order on the petition filed by Dilraj Rohit Sequeira, an advocate.
The petitioner had pointed out that the apex court in the case of Swapnil Tipathi Vs Supreme Court of India in 2018 had agreed to audio-video record its proceedings and provide live-streaming by laying down guidelines. The petitioner claimed that the Karnataka High Court should enforce the order of the apex court for all courts in the State.
However, the Chief Justice told the petitioner that the apex court had not issued any specific direction to the High Courts for audio-video recording of court proceedings but left it to the discretion of the Chief Justices of the High Courts. While stating that he is personally in favour of transparency in court proceedings, the Chief Justice also pointed out the pros and cons, both for advocates and litigants by recording, besides underlining the need for infrastructure.