LI Network
Published on: December 03, 2023 at 14:35 IST
In response to the temporary suspension of Video Conference facilities in all Courts of the High Court of Karnataka at Bengaluru, Dharwad, and Kalaburagi on December 5, the Karnataka High Court has issued comprehensive guidelines for the phased resumption of video conferencing in court proceedings, effective from December 11.
The recently released guidelines, issued by the Registry, mandate that all Advocates, party-in-persons, Litigants, and Media persons must undergo compulsory registration on the Zoom platform through a one-time signup procedure.
Only registered users will be granted access to the Video Conference for Court hall proceedings as signed-in participants. Advocates, party-in-persons, and Litigants are instructed to denote their participant names with List No., Case No., and name (e.g., List-1: WP 1/2003: Rama).
Media persons are required to include their names along with the media house they represent. Each Court hall is equipped with a waiting room, allowing only participants with the correct case numbers to engage in Court Proceedings.
Participants residing outside India must seek advance permission from the Registrar Judicial to join the Video Conference links. This development follows the oral statement by Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale, announcing the suspension of live streaming and video conferencing due to alleged misconduct, where unknown users displayed obscene images during court proceedings.
An FIR was filed under Sections 67 and 67 (A) of the Information Technology (IT) Information Technology Act, reporting the obstruction of court proceedings through the display of inappropriate content via video conferencing.
The Karnataka High Court had initially introduced live-streaming of court proceedings on a trial basis in 2021, and in 2022, it officially implemented the Karnataka Rules on Live Streaming and Recording of Court Proceedings from January 1, 2022.
The resumption of video conferencing, guided by the new protocols, aims to strike a balance between technological advancements and the integrity of court proceedings.