Delhi HC allows public viewing of hearings conducted via video conferencing

The High Court of Delhi Rules for Video Conferencing for Courts 2020 permit public viewing of court proceedings, the Registrar General of Delhi High Court said in a circular on Saturday.

"In order to observe the requirement of an open court proceeding, members of the public will be allowed to view court hearings conducted through video conferencing, except proceedings ordered for reasons recorded in writing to be conducted in-camera," the circular said.

It said that the court will endeavour to make available sufficient links, consistent with available bandwidth, for accessing the proceedings.

The Registrar General, in the circular, said that the links will be offered for public viewing so long as the stability of the system is not disturbed and is consistent with the available bandwidth.

"Therefore, all those who are interested in obtaining links for viewing court hearings can contact the concerned court master/ court official on their mobile phone numbers published in the cause list, in the very least, by 9 pm on the day prior to the date of hearing," the circular said.

However, it said that if for any reason contact with the concerned court master/ court official is not made by 9 pm on the date prior to the date of hearing fixed in the matter, then, the person seeking a link should get in touch with the court master/ court official by 10 am on the day of the hearing.

No request will be entertained once the hearing has commenced except with the permission of the court and those who are given a link for viewing the court proceedings will ensure that their mic is kept on mute mode and the video on switch-off mode, it added.