By IANS,
New Delhi : A lawyer Thursday filed a petition in the Delhi High Court, seeking audio recording of the court proceedings to ensure more transparency in the judiciary’s working.
Advocate K.V. Dhananjay filed the petition stating how the work load of the high court depends on the manner in which cases are filed and the procedure by which the cases are adjudicated in the court.
“If we really wanted our judiciary to be accountable at all and to demonstrate transparency in how it arrives at its decisions, we need to adopt audio recording of all proceedings,” Dhananjay told IANS.
The petition is likely to be heard next week.
Citing the case of Deepak Khosla, a businessman who has nearly 20 different cases pending at the Delhi High Court, the petition contended there was no provision of law that bars anyone from audio recording the hearing.
“The high court had spent more than Rs.42 crore for the financial year 2007-08. Yet, it did not choose to have an audio-recording equipment for the courts. It costs less than Rs.1 lakh to set up a permanent system for recording. A court that chooses not to record at all is under a constitutional duty to allow a party to non-intrusively audio-record so as to mitigate the suffering brought about by the court’s failure to reform itself,” he said.
“My client is offering the court that he will bear all expenses for setting up the audio recording equipment,” Dhananjay added.