'Recording, a Boon for Litigants'

Legal fraternity believes that the Centre’s new move will usher in greater transparency in court proceedings

CHENNAI: The Union Government’s recent move in forming a committee to explore the idea of live-recording all court proceedings has been welcomed widely by members of the legal fraternity here, who believe it will usher in greater transparency.

More importantly, they say, recording of court proceedings will empower litigants as they will get to know what exactly transpired in the court halls, rather than depending on their counsels for every information.

“It will really be a good thing. Court hearings are public hearings and the public must know what is being talked in the court halls,” says former Madras High Court judge T N Vallinayagam.

And, it is not just about transparency or empowerment of litigants. Such recordings can be crucial evidences for the court in possible future litigations. “If a party contends that his counsel was not given adequate opportunity to submit the arguments, the recordings will prove if the opportunity was given or not,” says Justice Vallinayagam.

The only exemptions could be in-camera proceedings, like those in sexual assault cases, where the recordings can lead to invasion of privacy of the victim or witnesses.

Several Western countries have implemented live-recording of court proceedings, albeit in different formats. While in some countries the court proceedings are telecast live on websites, others release the audio alone or make the recordings available on request.

Another crucial advantage of video-recording the proceedings is that it allows the court to review the statements of witnesses made in the court, thereby avoiding human error while recording statements in written form.

“Currently, the statements are being typed by the court staff. There are possibilities of a human error, which can affect the outcome of the case. Video-recording the proceedings will allow the judge to review the statements made by the witness for more clarity,” says former special public prosecutor for human rights cases at the  Madras High Court, V Kannadasan.

In most of the cases, a single judge does not get to conduct the entire trial due to reasons such as transfer or retirement.

In such cases, the new judge can get to know the real tone and circumstances in which a particular statement was made by a witness, which tmanually typed out words can never reflect. “There are no controlling mechanisms for the court. Video-recording the proceedings will help in knowing how a judge performs - like whether a judge sits in the court during appropriate hours or not, how he poses questions to advocates, or simply maintains silence in the court hall,” says Justice Vallinayagam.

If the system is implemented, all such recordings will become public records and anyone can have access to it. “By this, litigants can get to know what their lawyers argued in the court and what questions the judges have posed in the case,” says senior advocate and former additional solicitor general P Wilson.

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