Gujarat High Court becomes the country’s first court to live-stream proceedings

On February 8, Gujarat High Court began live-streaming the sessions of all 33 senior district judges in the state. On this occasion, a portal for court officers was also introduced.

This pilot project was launched by Justices M R Shah and J B Pardiwala of the Supreme Court at a virtual ceremony attended by Chief Justice Aravind Kumar of the Gujarat High Court. The Gujarat High Court is the first in the nation to broadcast all district court proceedings. Justice Pardiwala remarked that it would also be the first in the nation to webcast court hearings on a pilot basis beginning on October 26, 2020, and all of its benches beginning from July 17, 2021.

“Only change is constant. Indeed, we must continue to move and adapt because the only constant is change. Who are we doing all of this for in the end? We are doing this for the general public. In a democracy, the courts do not belong to the lawyers or judges, but to the people,” he remarked.

Justice Shah stated that every citizen has the right to know what is happening in the courts, and every judicial official must recognise that they are being observed by the people for whom the legal system was designed. With live streaming, litigants will be able to “know and observe how their case is being handled by the courts and their attorneys,” he added.

High Court Chief Justice Kumar stated that governmental funding for such programmes has never been an issue. He noted that the State Government and the Supreme Court’s e-Committee had been asked for funding to develop live streaming in all district courts and superior civil courts. Justice Kumar stated that live streaming should not be limited to the constitutional courts but should also reach litigants in district courts.

The judges’ portal or judicial officers’ portal would be a “revolutionary innovation in the field of judicial administration by the High Court concerning the service and career of judicial officers,” he stated. Justice Sonia Gokani of the Gujarat High Court stated that the project is anticipated to be a game-changer for the nation, “inspiring and energising many other high courts to follow suit.”