The Supreme Court on Friday restrained the unauthorised extraction, editing, uploading, reposting, dissemination and monetisation of live-streamed court proceedings on social media and other digital platforms without prior permission from the Secretary General of the Supreme Court or the Registrar General of the concerned High Court.
The interim direction was issued by a Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana while hearing a public interest litigation seeking guidelines to regulate the misuse of audio-visual recordings of court proceedings on digital platforms.
The Bench directed the Secretary General of the Supreme Court and the Registrars General of all High Courts to upload the interim directions on their respective official websites. It clarified that the order would not affect legitimate news reporting of court proceedings.
The court also issued notices to the Centre and all State governments on the petition and sought responses. In addition, it asked all High Courts to submit reports on the status of rules governing the live-streaming of courtroom proceedings. “As an interim measure, there shall be no posting, reposting, extraction, modification, dissemination or monetisation of live-streamed court proceedings on social media or any other digital platform without prior permission,” the Bench directed.
