Lekha G –
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has started live streaming of court proceedings subsequent to a plea filed by four journalists namely Nupur Thapliyal, Sparsh Upadhyay, Areeb Uddin Ahmed and Rahul Dubey.
The petitioners had challenged the MP Video Conferencing & Audio-Visual Electronic Linkage Rules, 2020 stating that it deters “Third parties” from accessing virtual court proceedings and causes difficulties in real-time reporting to media persons.
The Division Bench comprising of Justices Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Virender Singh disposed the plea stating, “Hence, the writ petitions are disposed of by taking note of the resolution of the E-Court Committee of the High Court dated 14.06.2021 in respect of sharing the link of live streaming of court proceedings conducted via Video Conferencing through website of the High Court in one way mode and directing the I.T. Wing of the High Court to give effect to the said resolution without any unnecessary delay.”
Further, the Court said that the proceedings will be subject to restrictions as mentioned in Swapnil Tripathi judgment and rules framed by the Court.
The High Court Administration pursuant to a meeting of High Court’s Computer and e-Committee on June 14, passed a resolution approving to provide weblinks on the website to view the court proceedings virtually.