The Delhi High Court on Wednesday declined to issue directions to the Central Information Commission (CIC) to conduct virtual hearings, stressing that enabling such access would require “huge infrastructural investment.”
A division bench comprising Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Anish Dayal made the observations while hearing a petition filed by a group of journalists seeking access to CIC proceedings via both physical and virtual modes. The petitioners had argued for greater transparency and accessibility in the Commission’s functioning.
The bench directed the petitioners to approach the CIC for issues relating to physical hearings, noting that the Commission had already passed an order addressing such requests.
On the matter of virtual hearings, however, the court advised the petitioners to move the Supreme Court, pointing out that a related matter concerning virtual access before the CIC is already pending adjudication there.
“It is not as easy as you people perhaps are trying to portray,” the bench observed. “There are issues which have prevented many High Courts from going online. Online hearings are permissible but online streaming is not permissible. There are issues which must be realised by the members of the general public. It is not that easy.”
The court underlined that while public access to judicial or quasi-judicial hearings is important, the demand for live or virtual access implicates significant logistical and technological considerations.
“All of this calls upon huge investment in the infrastructure,” the bench said. “If you are asking for providing access for general public to attend virtual hearings, will it not require investment for infrastructure?”
The court clarified that the concern was not with the concept of virtual courts or public access per se, but rather with the practical challenges involved in implementing such measures across institutions like the CIC.
