The Karnataka High Court.
Credit: DH File Photo
Bengaluru: The Advocates’ Association of Bengaluru (AAB) on Friday requested the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court to stop the live streaming of the court proceedings for a few days.
In a letter addressed to Chief Justice N V Anjaria, AAB president Vivek Subbareddy and other office-bearers said that serious controversies have erupted over the statements made by Justice V Shrishananda and they have gone viral across India.
In the letter, they said, “The AAB requests that till such time until there is sensitisation on views that could be aired in open courts, there should be total stoppage of live streaming of such court proceedings. Otherwise, the situation will aggravate and the image among the public regarding courts will be damaged.”
“Though the learned judge is good in his judgements and is known for his integrity, the members also feel that all the good work of the learned judge is taken away with such side statements and jibes which are wholly irrelevant for the occasion,” the Association said in the letter.
Vivek Subbareddy said, “Live streaming has given rise to several YouTube channels giving adverse and mischievous meanings and titles to the legal deliberations between lawyers and judges which is impacting advocates. Therefore, it is demanded that judges be cautious and show more sensitivity to lawyers before they make comments on the bench. We are glad that the Supreme Court has interfered to lay guidelines in this area.”
Meanwhile, PUCL-Karnataka and All India Lawyers Association for Justice (AILAJ) have released a statement that Justice V Shrishananda’s remarks are a cause of enormous concern for their impact on the people’s faith in the judiciary and judicial process.
In a press release, the organisation said the Supreme Court and High Court must act to restore the public faith that the judiciary does bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution.
“These statements fall foul of the “Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct” that establish standards for the ethical conduct of judges laying down six recognised core values – Independence, impartiality, integrity, propriety, equality and competence and diligence,” the release stated.
Rules reiterated
Earlier in the day, the high court shared the rules prescribing prohibitions and restrictions on usage of live streaming, minutes before the commencement of the day’s proceedings. The relevant rule, Rule 10 (2), of the ‘Karnataka Rules on Live Streaming and Recording of Court Proceedings 2021’ was shared on the page of the live streaming of the bench headed by Chief Justice N V Anjaria on Friday.
Rule 10 (2) stipulates that ‘No person or entity (including print and electronic media, and social media platforms) other than an authorised person or entity shall record, share and/or disseminate Live-streamed Proceedings or Archival Data. “Any unauthorised usage of the Live- stream will be punishable as an offence under the Indian Copyright Act, 1957, Information Technology Act, 2000, and other provisions of law, including the law of Contempt,” the rules further stated.
The livestreaming shall not, without the prior written authorisation of the court, be reproduced, transmitted, uploaded, posted, modified, published, or re-published in any form. The rules came into force with effect from January 1, 2022.