- Court proceedings in Delhi High Court were disrupted thrice by obscene content played during virtual hearing
- An unidentified user accessed the video conference and played porn videos and music repeatedly
- The disruptions occurred during a hearing by Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia
The court proceedings before the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court were disturbed not once, not twice, but thrice after porn videos and music were played during the hearing. An unidentified person is said to have gained access to the proceedings being conducted virtually via video conferencing on Wednesday and played obscene content.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and Justice Tejas Karia was conducting the proceedings when the incident happened for the first time at around 12:56 pm.
The virtual proceedings were halted immediately. Minutes later, when the call was restarted, the user, logged in with the name 'Sh**jit Singh', again played a pornographic video.
The pornographic material was displayed on at least two screens during the video conference.
The uninvited guest reportedly also displayed a message: "You've been hacked."
In a third attempt to disturb the court proceedings, the user played music. Following this, the Chief Justice was forced to shut down the virtual hearing.
Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay later said that he has instructed the Registrar General to take action in view of incidents where obscene content was played during video conferencing. He further stated that recording court proceedings is prohibited, and action will be taken against those who record or broadcast such incidents.
CJ Upadhyay made the statement after the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma informed the Bench that the incident had happened not just in his court but also in many other courts.
"There have been disconcerting incidents in some courts that have the effect of damaging the sanctity and integrity of the institution," ASG Sharma said.
He added that the court must take action, and the remedy is available under Section 69A of the IT Act for the immediate takedown of the content which has started to circulate online.
"Administratively, I have already instructed the RG because under our rules it can be displayed only if it is recorded," the Chief Justice said.
The motive behind the incident remains unclear.
A complaint has been lodged with the Delhi Police's Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit, which will now investigate the matter.
