New Delhi [India], October 30 : The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to incorporate provisions for penalising violations of its directions prohibiting the unauthorised sharing of audio-video recordings of court proceedings in its proposed policy on the issue.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was hearing a batch of petitions concerning the live-streaming, recording and publication of court proceedings.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the Court that the suggestions received from various stakeholders had been forwarded to MeitY, which is preparing a policy to address concerns over the commercial exploitation and misleading circulation of courtroom recordings. 
He also flagged violations of the apex court's existing directions and sought consideration of take-down orders against offending content.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for an intervenor, suggested maintaining an authenticated repository of court recordings on official websites, secured through watermarks and cryptographic signatures, to ensure that clips are sourced from verified material.
Justice Bagchi said similar measures were being considered administratively, including steps to prevent downloading of clips from High Court YouTube channels. However, he noted that enforcement remained a challenge.
The bench also indicated that anyone seeking to extract clips from official recordings would require permission from the Secretary General of the Supreme Court, with the purpose of such use also subject to scrutiny.
Bhushan cautioned that the restriction could hamper legitimate journalistic reporting, while the Solicitor General argued that YouTubers monetising such content were not necessarily serving any public purpose.
The Court directed that the proposed policy must also provide for action against those who violate its existing restrictions.
"It is said the formulation of policy is under consideration. Necessary measures for taking action against those who fail to comply with directions will also be incorporated in policy," the bench ordered.
In its July 24 order, the top court had prohibited the extraction, dissemination, monetisation, uploading, modification or storage of recordings of judicial proceedings on social media or other digital platforms without prior permission from the Secretary General of the Supreme Court or the Registrars General of the respective High Courts.
It clarified that the directions will not affect news reporting of court proceedings.
The apex court passed the order on a PIL filed by Harshita Grover seeking guidelines to regulate the clipping, editing, dissemination and monetisation of audio-visual recordings of court proceedings on digital platforms.