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Informist, Friday, Jul. 24, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court Friday as an interim measure banned uploading court hearings' recording on social media or other digital media platforms without the prior permission of the registrar on allegations of increasing misuse of audiovisual recordings of the proceedings through selective clipping, editing, decontextualised circulation, and commercial exploitation on social media and digital platforms. "...there shall be no extraction, modification, dissemination, posting, re-posting, uploading or monetisation of audio/video recordings of the judicial proceedings on social media or other digital platforms without the prior permission of the registrar general of the concerned high courts or the secretary general of the Supreme Court," said a Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana. Its direction will not affect news reporting of court proceedings, the bench clarified.

 

The apex court observed that regulating data is one of the biggest challenges in digital space. There should be limited access and restriction on livestream proceedings itself, said the court. "Parties must expressly make a prayer that they want to see (the proceedings online). It can't be a 24/7 entertainment channel by court," said the court. The online access links granted for virtual hearings are often shared indiscriminately and such access also required regulation, said the court. 

 

Chief Justice Kant agreed that misinformation arising from distorted reporting was a growing concern. Chief Justice Kant said that even in print media, some of his comments were distorted. Earlier in the day, Chief Justice Kant had dismissed as "completely false" media reports that he had refused to list a petition challenging the police action against student protesters, clarifying that no writ petition on the issue had been filed before the Supreme Court.

 

The apex court's stance was in stark contrast to previous chief justice Chandrachud who had said that live-streaming of court proceedings were important to reach out to the citizens. Former chief justice Chandrachud had said that the controversies created due to the circulation of the objectionable remarks made against judges cannot be a reason to shut down the live-streaming of court proceedings. "Answer to sunlight is more sunlight. Not to suppress what happens in the court," Chandrachud had said. "Live-streaming of court proceedings has really taken our courts to the homes and hearts of the common citizens. And that's how it should be because that's part of the process," said Chandrachud.

 

On Friday, the apex court issued notices to the government, Bar Council of India and impleaded all high courts on a petition filed by journalist Harshita Grover. The apex court also issued notices to Meta Platforms Inc. and X Corp. Grover had sought to protect the dignity of courts, preserve public confidence in the justice delivery system, and ensure that audiovisual recordings of judicial proceedings are not misused in a manner that interferes with the fair and independent administration of justice.

 

Grover said that while live-streaming and video-conferencing of court proceedings were introduced to advance the principles of open justice, transparency, and public access to the judicial process, the absence of any regulatory framework governing the republication and monetisation of such material has resulted in widespread misuse. Isolated courtroom exchanges, oral observations, and preliminary remarks are frequently extracted from lengthy hearings and circulated without the factual or legal context in which they were made, said Grover. Such clips are often accompanied by misleading captions, sensational commentary, and clickbait headlines designed to maximise public engagement and commercial gain, said Grover.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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