No video recording of court proceedings: HC

The Bombay high court, on Monday, stated that there was no policy decision to allow video recording of court proceedings. HT reports.

The Bombay high court, on Monday, stated that there was no policy decision to allow video recording of court proceedings.

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The court was hearing an application filed by activist Indur Chhugani urging it to videograph proceedings in his petition, which has challenged the election of Congress Member of Parliament Priya Dutt.

Previously, the court had observed that video recording of court proceedings could reduce crowding in the court premises and spare judges from dealing with frivolous allegations.

Subsequently, an affidavit filed by Nijamoddin Jamdar, Registrar (Legal & Research) on Monday stated that the high court's order to consider the feasibility of video recordings was placed before the committee of administrative judges.

The affidavit stated that videographing court proceedings may lead to serious and complex issues of practice and procedure and may lead to misuse, given that judges often tentatively express their opinions during a hearing.

The affidavit added, “Video recording of proceedings is essentially a matter of policy, to be determined by the high court on administrative side and in its capacity as a rule-making authority. The proposition has a number of facets and may have an impact upon various stakeholders in the administration of justice.”

Justice RC Chavan rejected Chhugani's application after observing that the administrative side, which comprises of the chief justice and four other senior judges, had not taken a policy decision yet.