MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has ruled that all proceedings, including judicial hearings of cases related to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, must be video-recorded.
A division Bench of the court in a recent ruling said that section 15A (10), which states that all proceedings related to offences under the Act shall be video- recorded, would apply to judicial proceedings too. The State Government has been directed to provide the facility of video recording in all the courts in the state wherever the proceedings under the Atrocities Act are to be taken up.
In August 2019, Justice Sadhana Jadhav of the HC had referred the matter to a division bench for deciding how the term ‘proceedings’ should be construed.
The issue came up during the hearing on bail pleas of three doctors – Hema Ahuja, Bhakti Mehare and Ankita Khandelwal – accused of abetting the suicide of their junior, Payal Tadvi, in 2019.
Now the court ruling on video recording of proceedings would ensure public accountability. It will also ensure that victims and witnesses have adequate briefing on the case and preparation for trial. The information would be available to the organisations and individuals who are providing legal aid to the victim and their dependents.
In many cases, the victims may not be fully aware of the legal procedures or their implications, and the video recording would be of use to those who can help victims understand the nature of proceedings and the facts and legal aspects of the case.
The bench, however, noted that not all courts in the state have the video recording facility, and it was the duty of the government to provide it. The onus was on the state government to take necessary measures for the effective implementation of the Act, the judges said.
