NEW DELHI: An advocate appearing as petitioner-in-person (PIP) in the Ram Temple donation embezzlement case has flagged to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) a breakdown in the Supreme Court's video-conferencing (VC) system during the hearing on September 21.
Advocate Narendra Kumar Goswami wrote to CJI Surya Kant, saying the VC system collapsed just as his bench was hearing his plea to secure electronic evidence.
Goswami had been seeking a CBI-monitored probe into alleged misappropriation of donations at Ayodhya. His letter said the feed disappeared for about seven minutes, disconnecting Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and other counsel appearing online.
Goswami said he feared his submissions on preserving donation ledgers and transaction records may not have been recorded. He asked the CJI to order verification of the transcripts and to ensure backup audio-video recording in future hearings. "When the case itself is about missing evidence, the court cannot afford missing minutes," he noted.
Goswami also sought disclosure of the technical reason for the failure. Court sources said the CJI's office had marked the letter to the computer committee for remedial action. Bar members said the letter raised valid concerns about digital reliability and the technical glitches affecting the VC system at the apex court.
"I request the CJI for immediate preservation of the electronic records of the Video Conferencing of the proceedings of Court No.1 of September 21, Monday, and ascertainment of the cause of interruption of authenticated VC access during the hearing of my connected writ petition and consideration of prospective institutional safeguards," Goswami said, in his letter written to the CJI.