SC takes first step towards video recording court trials

NEW DELHI: In an unprecedented step, the Supreme Court directed high courts on Tuesday to install CCTV cameras inside courtrooms in two districts of every state and Union territory within three months to record case proceedings.

“The report of such experiment be submitted within one month of such installation by registrar generals of the respective high courts to the secretary general of the Supreme Court who may have it tabulated and place it before us,“ ordered a bench of Justices A K Goel and U U Lalit.

However, the court said there would not be any audio recording of court proceedings. “We direct that at least two districts in every state UT, CCTV cameras (without audio recording) may be installed inside courts and at such important locations of the court complexes as may be considered appropriate.Monitor thereof may be done in the chamber of the concerned district and sessions judge. Location of district courts and any other issue concerning the subject may be decided by the respective high courts,“ the bench said.

However, the SC barred access of the video footage to lawyers, litigants and general public through the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

“We may make it clear that footage of the CCTV cameras will not be available under the RTI Act and will not be supplied to anyone without the permission of the concerned high court. Instal lation may be completed within three months from today ,“ the bench ordered.

The SC on the administrative side, through a full court meeting chaired by the Chief Justice of India on August 31 last year, had sought to defer the proposal to start a pilot project for video recording of trial court proceedings, saying it had decided to seek further inputs from stakeholders and wider consultations.

The Centre has time and again insisted that the SC take a decision on this. Recently , Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had written to CJI J S Khehar, requesting him to “consider taking up the issue of audio-video recording of co urt proceedings on a pilot basis to start with, at least in some of the district courts“.

The bench of Justices Goel and Lalit had asked additional solicitor general Maninder Singh and senior advocate R Venkatramani on February 6 to act as amicus curiae in a pending petition and visit the Gurgaon district court which had installed CCTV cameras inside and outside court rooms to study the process and present a report to the SC. They found that the CCTVs installed inside Gurgaon courtrooms in 2010 were removed a year later on the order of the high court.

The Centre said in its affidavit that audio-video recording of court proceedings could contribute to transparency of court processes and better case management. The SC bench posted the matter for further hearing on August 9 when it will examine the report on installation of CCTVs in trial courts.