SC bars unauthorised sharing of court hearing recordings on social media
New Delhi, July 28
The Supreme Court has directed that audio and video recordings of judicial proceedings cannot be extracted, disseminated, monetised, or uploaded on social media and other digital platforms without prior permission of the Secretary General of the apex court or the Registrar Generals of the respective High Courts.
A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana passed the interim direction while issuing notice on a writ petition seeking implementation of a uniform framework for live streaming and recording of court proceedings across the country.
As an interim measure, the top court ordered that "there shall be no extraction, dissemination, monetisation, posting, re-posting, uploading, transmitting, modification, storing, or hosting of the audio-video recording(s) of the judicial proceedings on social media or any other digital platforms without prior permission of the Secretary General of the Supreme Court of India or the Registrar Generals of the jurisdictional High Courts".
At the same time, the CJI Surya Kant-led Bench clarified that the interim order would not affect reportage of court proceedings by accredited media organisations.
"However, it is clarified that this order shall have no bearing on the reporting of Court proceedings by recognised news outlets," it said.
During the hearing, the Supreme Court impleaded all High Courts in the country as parties to the proceedings, along with major social media intermediaries and technology platforms. It issued notice to the Union government, the Bar Council of India, all High Courts, and social media intermediaries, including LinkedIn, Meta Platforms, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Google, X Corp and YouTube.
The Union government was directed to place before the top court a proposal identifying the nodal Ministries that would implement the reliefs sought in the petition.
"The Union of India is directed to put up a proposal with respect to the Nodal Ministries to give effect to the prayers made in the instant Writ Petition," the order said.
The Supreme Court also sought status reports from all High Courts regarding the adoption of the Model Rules for live streaming and recording of court proceedings circulated by the apex court.
"The High Courts shall submit their status reports with respect to the adoption of the Model Rules for live streaming and recording of court proceedings circulated by this Court. Their status reports shall also explain the impact and feasibility of continuous/uninterrupted live streaming," the CJI-led Bench directed.
Further, it directed that the Secretary General of the Supreme Court and the Registrar Generals of all High Courts upload the order on their respective websites for public information.
The matter has been listed for further hearing on July 31.
— IANS
Reader Comments
As someone who follows Indian legal developments from abroad, this seems sensible. In the US, we have strict rules about cameras in courtrooms too. But I hope this doesn't become a tool to hide judicial accountability.
Good move! The way some channels were replaying snippets out of context was ridiculous. But I wish they'd also address the bigger issue - why aren't all court hearings live-streamed properly? Babus ka raaj khatam karo! 😤
This is necessary yar. Fake news walon ne toh court proceedings ka bhi misuse kar diya. Remember how selective clips of the Ayodhya hearing were circulated? This order will stop that nonsense. But approving each upload through Secretary General? That's too much bureaucracy. Hope they streamline it.
Lawyers and journalists should be allowed reasonable sharing. But random influencers picking up court clips for cheap content? That had to stop. The bench composition looks good - CJI Surya Kant is known for practical decisions. Let's see how the July 31 hearing goes.
Interesting development. In UK courts, recording is strictly prohibited and even tweeting from court is limited. India's move to allow recognised media while restricting social media seems like a middle ground. But I wonder how they'll enforce this against global platforms like X and Meta.
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