Hi Friends,

Even as I launch this today ( my 80th Birthday ), I realize that there is yet so much to say and do. There is just no time to look back, no time to wonder,"Will anyone read these pages?"

With regards,
Hemen Parekh
27 June 2013

Now as I approach my 90th birthday ( 27 June 2023 ) , I invite you to visit my Digital Avatar ( www.hemenparekh.ai ) – and continue chatting with me , even when I am no more here physically

Monday, 9 November 2020

Live Streaming of Court Proceedings

 

       

SC gears up for live streaming of sessions  /  04 Nov

Extract :

Ø  The panel set up by the E-Committee will give its report on four important aspects,

      #  Infrastructure required for LIVE STREAMING of proceedings from all HCs

           and nearly 20,000 trial courts

      #  Funds needed for this gigantic project that will have to be broken up

           State-wise

     #  Software suitable for this endeavor

     #  The Central assistance required through budgetary allocations

 

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Here are the approx. working hours / year, for different types of courts :

#  Supreme Court………190 days x 6 hrs/day  =  (  1140 hour  / year ) x 1  Supreme court  =  1140 hours

#  High Courts ……………232 days x 6 hrs/day  =  ( 1392 hours / year ) x 29 High Courts     =   40,368 hours

#  Trial Courts ……………244 days x 6hrs/day  =  (1464 hours / year ) x 20,000 Trial courts  = 29,280,00 hours

[  Together , some 3996 hours / day of audio-video broadcast  ? ]

If all of these courts were to “ LIVE STREAM “ , all of their “ Proceedings “, that would add up to :

A grand total of 2,969,508  hours of VIDEO CONTENT – an unprecedented amount of IMAGE + AUDIO data of millions of,

Ø  Court Cases / Complaints / Complainants / Defendants / Lawyers / Judges / Arguments / Examinations / Cross-examinations / Questions / Answers / Petitions / Bail applications / Verdicts / Stay-Orders / Affidavits / Notices / Documents / Appeals ……etc

In nut shell, a lot of dirty linen being washed ( watched ? ) in public !

When captured ( as Audio and Video ), this will be a treasure-trove of PUBLIC DATABASE  of JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS (  - assuming such live streaming does not run afoul of pending DATA PROTECTION BILL )

Every single word spoken by anyone ( Litigants – Lawyers – Judges ) can be converted into text ( Speech to Text ) and analyzed, using Artificial Intelligence .

Language Translation software can instantly convert the language ( of those speaking in the courts ), into any other language ( desired by remote viewing listeners )

This massive UNSTRUCTURED DATABASE can be made “ searchable “ by Law students – Lawyers – Judges , in a bewildering varieties of SEARCH TERMS

DATABASE can be used for automatic :

Ø  Framing of  Charge-sheets  / Applications / Appeals / even Judgements !

Ø  Repeal of outdated / obsolete laws

Ø  Drafting of New Laws ?

Ø  Facial Recognition of everyone present in courts

    If in doubt , read :

Ø  AI come to judgement ? Not for a while ! …………………………………..[ 17 Dec 2019 ]

 

Leaving aside these “ By-product Benefits “ of video-streaming of court proceedings, the crucial question is :

Who would want to watch these proceedings on TV or any other media ? “

Honest answer : 

Very few people would want to waste their time watching ordinary / trivial / mundane disputes of two ordinary citizen, who you do not even know they exist !

And if there are no VIEWERS, then which TV channel ( or any mobile app ) would waste precious time / bandwidth to broadcast ( live stream ) such non-descript / boring proceedings ?

These TV channels make their money from ADVERTIZERS – who, in turn, decide their advts based on the likely VIEWERSHIP of a given tele-cast. So, if there are no likely viewers, then there can be no tele-cast, nor any advertisers !

Conclusion :

TV Channels ( or any mobile app ) would stoutly resist any coercion on part of Supreme Court to make them LIVE STREAM of court proceedings of ordinary – mundane – boring cases !

But,

These very same media would be happy to LIVE STREAM ( and even pay the Supreme Court , huge sums of money in advance ), if such live streaming were to

#  Get millions of TV viewers to leave everything aside to watch

#  Which, in turn , would bring in a hundred advertisers ( and tons of profit for these media )

Here are some examples of the Court Proceedings (with such MONEY-MAKING potential ) involving :

#   Criminal cases of Politicians ( Opposition will send you SMS not to miss ! )

#   Corruption / Bribery cases of Bankers

#   Favoritism cases of sitting Ministers ( “ Out of turn “ allotment )

#   Defamation cases of Film Celebrities

#   Abetment for suicide cases of TV owners / Anchors

#   Rape cases of well-known Religious leaders

#   Mis-appropriation of funds cases of ( once ) respected Industrialists

#   Sedition cases against Liberals / Social Reformers / Spokesmen of downtrodden

#   Money-laundering cases of leading Businessmen

#   Insider Trading case of Company Directors

#   Purchase of MPs-MLAs cases against Political Parties

#   Ayodhya Ram Mandir case

#   Management Control cases of big Corporate

#   Murder vs Suicide cases of Film personalities

#   Terrorist attack cases of Militant Organizations

#   Ponzi Scheme Fraud cases

#   Match-fixation cases of Sports celebrities

#   Tax Evasion cases of Political Party Leaders / Big Corporate 

  I am sure there are a few others which would grip the curiosity of millions of TV viewers 

 Except ,

These cases go on for weeks / months or even years – with postponements / adjournments granted during each hearing of 10 minutes – followed by the next hearing after 2 weeks or 2 months !

On a typical day, a trial court ,

Ø  Lists some 20  “ ordinary “ cases on the board

Ø  Listens to the arguments in just  5 cases ( 30 – 40 minutes each )

Ø  Announces next “ hearing date “ ( 2 months later ) for the rest 15 cases

Of course, a single hearing for the “ Sensational “ cases ( of the type listed above ), will be heard for the entire 6 hours

But which TV Channel will tele-cast such an episode ( no matter, how sensational ), for 6 hours at a stretch – even if offered FREE by the Supreme Court ?

Next conclusion :

Forget about “ live tele-cast “ of even the sensational cases , spread over months

So , is there an alternative ?

Yes

These Video-graphed episodes ( of those sensational cases only ? or of ALL the cases ? ), should be uploaded on a portal ( www.CourtVideos.gov.in ? ) and made searchable

TV channels ( or Mobile Apps ) can download by making Online Payment and stream / tele-cast to their users

Media should be permitted / authorized to condense the Videos by cropping “ un-interesting “ portions

Such tele-casts would attract advertisers and enable Media to make money

===================================================

Dear Shri Ravishankar Prasadji,

As far as “ Live Streaming of Court Proceedings “ is concerned , following tabulation provides a CONCEPTUAL FRAME-WORK for consideration by Supreme Court / E-Committee

This might require amendments to proposed Data Protection Law ( washing dirty linen in public ? )

My suggestion would ,

Ø  Fulfill the much-sought after requirement of TRANSPARENCY ( through searchable Video portal )

Ø  Avoid any coercion of free press

Ø  Motivate TV / Media to tele-cast ( though not “ live-streaming “)

With regards,

Hemen Parekh /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com  / 10 Nov 2020

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   CONCEPTUAL FRAME-WORK  for LIVE STREAMING of Court Proceedings

Court Type

Location / Platform

Live-Streaming Method

Live-Stream viewable on what Media

Who can watch

Device for Viewing

How to monetize this Video Content ?

Physical Courts

Brick & Mortar Court-rooms

CCTV Cameras in each Court – Internet connected ?

Satellite beaming DTH ?

TV channels / Search Engines / Youtube / Facebook / Netflix

Everyone / 200 million TV homes / including Litigants and their Lawyers

TV

As described above

Virtual E - Courts

Portal with unlimited no. of virtual courts

Built into the Portal’s architecture

Only on Portal

Only by login / Litigants and their Lawyers

Mobiles / Tablets / Laptops / PCs

Absolutely no monetizing !

Everything FREE to encourage ever-greater use of e-courts

 

 Added on 09 Oct 2023 :

AI in Law. Supreme Court embraces AI for transcribing live proceedings

 

 

The SC had called for sealed bids in a three-cover system (EMD, technical bid and financial bid) from experienced and reputable firms for the design, development and implementation of AI solutions for transcribing arguments and court proceedings


 

 

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