New Delhi: The Delhi High Court’s video conferencing proceedings before the Chief Justice’s Bench were repeatedly disrupted on Wednesday after unidentified participants allegedly displayed obscene and pornographic content on screen.
Reportedly, the disruption occurred multiple times during live virtual court proceedings when a participant allegedly gained access to the video conferencing platform, shared explicit content, and played disturbing music, forcing the court administration to suspend the session repeatedly.
During one such interruption, an automated voice announcement was reportedly heard stating that the system had been hacked, with the message warning: “You have been hacked”.
The video conferencing session was initially shut down following the first disruption. However, upon resumption, the same participant allegedly returned, this time playing music and again disturbing proceedings.
After repeated interruptions, the virtual hearing interface was disabled for some time before being restarted.
The episode has triggered apprehensions of a possible cybersecurity compromise involving the Delhi High Court’s virtual hearing interface.
Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court administration has reportedly lodged a formal complaint with the Cyber Cell of Delhi Police, seeking an investigation into the breach and appropriate action against those responsible.
Earlier, in September 2024, the Supreme Court had temporarily disabled its YouTube channel after it was allegedly hacked and used to broadcast videos promoting a cryptocurrency.
In that case, the channel was renamed “Ripple”, and unauthorised videos were streamed before corrective action was taken.
India’s higher judiciary has significantly expanded its digital and virtual hearing systems in recent years under the e-Courts project, with live-streaming and video conferencing becoming central to judicial accessibility, particularly after the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated adoption of virtual proceedings.
The Supreme Court, in the landmark Swapnil Tripathi judgment, had endorsed live-streaming of proceedings in cases of constitutional and national importance to improve transparency and public access to justice.
(IANS)
