SC directs that court hearing recordings cannot be shared on social media without authorisation

Supreme Court has directed that audio and video recordings of judicial proceedings cannot be extracted, disseminated, monetised, or uploaded on social media and other digital platforms without prior permission of the Secretary General of the apex court or the Registrar Generals of the respective High Courts.

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana passed the interim direction while issuing notice on a writ petition seeking implementation of a uniform framework for live streaming and recording of court proceedings across the country.

As an interim measure, the top court ordered that “there shall be no extraction, dissemination, monetisation, posting, re-posting, uploading, transmitting, modification, storing, or hosting of the audio-video recording(s) of the judicial proceedings on social media or any other digital platforms without prior permission of the Secretary General of the Supreme Court of India or the Registrar Generals of the jurisdictional High Courts".

At the same time, the CJI Surya Kant-led Bench clarified that the interim order would not affect reportage of court proceedings by accredited media organisations.

"However, it is clarified that this order shall have no bearing on the reporting of Court proceedings by recognised news outlets," it said.

During the hearing, the Supreme Court impleaded all High Courts in the country as parties to the proceedings, along with major social media intermediaries and technology platforms. It issued notice to the Union government, the Bar Council of India, all High Courts, and social media intermediaries, including LinkedIn, Meta Platforms, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Google, X Corp and YouTube.

The Union government was directed to place before the top court a proposal identifying the nodal Ministries that would implement the reliefs sought in the petition.

"The Union of India is directed to put up a proposal with respect to the Nodal Ministries to give effect to the prayers made in the instant Writ Petition," the order said.

The Supreme Court also sought status reports from all High Courts regarding the adoption of the Model Rules for live streaming and recording of court proceedings circulated by the apex court.

"The High Courts shall submit their status reports with respect to the adoption of the Model Rules for live streaming and recording of court proceedings circulated by this Court. Their status reports shall also explain the impact and feasibility of continuous/uninterrupted live streaming," the CJI-led Bench directed.

Further, it directed that the Secretary General of the Supreme Court and the Registrar Generals of all High Courts upload the order on their respective websites for public information.

The matter has been listed for further hearing on July 31.