The Supreme Court clarified on Wednesday (September 16, 2026) that while unauthorised distribution of live-streamed proceedings constitutes contempt, circulating clips featuring false insertions or misattributed judicial remarks graduates the violation into criminal conduct.
A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant was referring to online representation of oral remarks made during court proceedings. The Chief Justice reminded him that he had appeared in open court. “Why do you want to hide? However, far more serious would be the adding words never spoken or falsely attributing remarks to the Bench or the lawyers.
The Bench was hearing a petition filed by a lawyer who complained that a video of his appearance in court was circulated online by portals and social media sites in violation of specific Supreme Court orders on July 24 and July 31, which had barred the online use of raw or edited audio and video clippings of judicial hearings. On July 24, the court had passed an interim direction prohibiting extraction, dissemination, monetisation, posting, re-posting, uploading, transmitting, modification, storing, or hosting of the audio-video recording(s) of judicial proceedings on social media or any other digital platforms without prior permission of the Secretary General of the Supreme Court or the Registrars General of the jurisdictional High Courts. A week later, on July 31, the apex court issued a clarification stating that its July 24 order did not constitute a blanket prohibition on court coverage by recognised media outlets, provided audio or video clips of the proceedings were not utilised.
The court said falsely imputing statements as part of oral submissions made by lawyers in court was also wrong. You should be brave enough,” the CJI told the legal practitioner. The court said mere online utilisation of livestreamed videos, possibly for commercial exploitation, attracts contempt.
