News18: New Delhi: Friday, March 31,
2017.
The Campaign
for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR) disapproved of the Supreme
Court's direction to keep video coverage beyond the purview of the RTI Act,
saying courts should not carve out such exceptions.
The CJAR said
the apex court's decision to not provide for sound recording during the
experimental use of CCTVs in trial courts could defeat the aim to ensure full
transparency in the judicial process.
In a
significant step towards attaining transparency, the Supreme Court had on March
28 directed that at least two districts in every state and Union Territory
should install CCTV cameras at important locations in court complexes.
In a
statement, the CJAR said, "We strongly disapprove of the court directing
that the CCTV video coverage will be beyond the reach of the Right to
Information Act. As a matter of principle, courts cannot and should not carve
out such exceptions to an important transparency law without very strong and
compelling reasons,."
"By not
providing for sound recording, the CCTV experiment as directed by the court is
bound to fail. The goal of ensuring full transparency in the judicial process
would be completely defeated if CCTV footage is not accompanied by audio
recording of the proceedings.
"In the
absence of knowledge of what was said and not said in court, the purpose of
gathering CCTV footage becomes utterly futile," it said.
The CJAR has
urged the apex court to modify its order to expand it to all levels of
judiciary.
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