CHENNAI: Nearly a 100 people glued to a TV screen. Occasionally jeering, clapping and even whistling. For a change, it was not the live telecast of a cricket match. It was live telecast of proceedings before a two-member bench of the Madras High Court.
Perhaps for the first time in Indian legal history, a 55-cm TV and two loudspeakers were on Wednesday placed just outside the main High Court building telecasting proceedings against two Madurai-based Bar leaders for nearly 40 minutes.
While internationally there has been initiatives in support of live telecast of court proceedings for better transparency, this event was not purely aimed at it. It was for security reasons since the bench believed that the advocates may carry out noisy protests near the court hall, hampering the proceedings.
The crowd started assembling in the parking area around 2 pm when the TV and the speakers were placed. As the telecast of the proceedings began, lawyers, public and media representatives gathered.
“I thought the quality would be poor, since they are doing it for the first time. But the picture clarity was surprisingly lucid,” said a woman lawyer.
A movie camera rolled inside the court hall to cover the judges and defence lawyers of Madurai-based Bar leaders A K Ramasamy and Dharmaraj.