He also warned that live-streaming risked encouraging performative conduct in court.
“With the immense reach of live-streaming, the courtroom becomes a platform to address a wider audience. This breeds a propensity amongst the stakeholders, both judges and lawyers, for grandstanding. A forensic quest for the truth is altered into a judicial theatre of hyperbole,” observed Justice Bagchi.
He said that judges must remain insulated not only from intimidation but also from public adulation.
“A judge is bound by oath to act without fear of the digital mob, without favour towards the applauding crowd, and above all, without followers. For the new media rarely threatens a judge with punishment. It tempts him with approval, and approval corrodes independence more quietly than fear ever did,” he said.
