Calcutta High Court: On persistent plea made by advocate Deepak Khosla (who was subjected to constant heckling and abuses inside the court room) for video recording of the proceedings of the court to keep a record of incontrovertible evidence of conduct of the counsels, a bench of Aniruddha Bose J gave a significant order of one of its kind by allowing the setting up of camera and microphone inside the court room for greater transparency in the judiciary and court proceedings.
The Court stated that the prayer of Mr. Khosla for video recording of the proceeding is permitted in the instant case because no objection was raised regarding the same from the learned Advocates appearing for the different parties. The Court noted that the record of the proceedings in the present case shall not form part of the official records of the Court, as there is no Rule as yet framed to permit video recording of the proceedings before the Court. The Court further made clear that the recordings would only be for the purpose of assistance of this Court, like noting of submissions of the parties in course of hearing and such recording shall not be made available to any of the parties or outsiders unless otherwise directed by this Court. The Court added that “this Court shall have the power and authority to make necessary editing of the recorded version, removing any part therefrom which this Court considers it necessary to avoid any scandalous or undesirable or irrelevant matter to remain on record”. Angelo Bros Ltd. (In liquidation) v. Official Liquidator, High Court, Calcutta, 2015 SCC OnLine Cal 2036, decided on 15.07.2015