The Supreme Court on Friday passed an interim order barring the recording, posting, reposting, extraction, modification, dissemination, monetisation and circulation of live-streamed courtroom proceedings on social media or any other digital platform without prior permission from the concerned court authorities.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, said prior permission must be obtained from the secretary general of the Supreme Court and the registrar general of the respective high courts. The bench clarified that the order would not affect news reporting.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by journalist Harshita Grover, which alleged increasing misuse of audio-visual recordings of judicial proceedings through selective editing, decontextualised circulation and commercial exploitation on digital platforms.
The petition said isolated courtroom exchanges and oral observations were often clipped from lengthy hearings, circulated without context and accompanied by misleading captions and sensational commentary, exposing judges, lawyers and litigants to trolling, reputational harm and distorted public narratives about judicial proceedings.
The Supreme Court directed the secretary general of the apex court and the registrars general of high courts to upload the interim order on their respective websites. It also asked high courts to submit reports on the implementation of the Supreme Court's livestreaming guidelines and sought the Centre's response on which ministries could implement the reliefs sought in the petition.
During the hearing, Justice Joymalya Bagchi said unrestricted circulation of livestreams could turn court proceedings into "a 24/7 entertainment channel" and pose a threat to the justice system. He suggested that court recordings be maintained in a secure repository with restricted access.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta warned that artificial intelligence tools could manipulate courtroom videos by altering spoken words while preserving lip movements. The Chief Justice said he had already experienced instances where his remarks were inaccurately attributed in the print media.