new delhi after being reluctant for years for audiovideo recording of court proceedings the supreme court on monday favoured installing of cctv cameras in all courts including apex court to record the proceedings after the centre also backed the proposalthe apex court and various high courts had repeatedly rejected the plea of audiovideo recordings in 2015 a supreme court bench headed by the cji h l dattu dismissed a pil seeking its direction for videorecording of court proceedings you want to put cctv in the court right now what ever we discuss in the innermost chamber is out there in the public what we discuss among judges in the collegium meetings are also out in public there is no need for cctv the bench had saidsimilarly bombay hc last year denied permission to introduce the system of video recording and said these are courts not stages and sets from the truman show this is a judicial proceeding of the utmost solemnity not the hunger gameshinting that it is willing to examine the issue afresh a bench of justices a k goel and u u lalitwhich had in march directed high courts to install cctv cameras inside courtrooms in two districts of every state and union territory said why the proceedings in tribunals hcs and supreme court be also not recorded as being done in many other countriesthe bench which had directed only video recording of court proceedings in lower courts permitted audio recording alsoadditional solicitor general maninder singh appearing for the centre told the bench that ecommittee of the supreme court had earlier decided against recording of proceedings in apex court but the bench said that it was a decision taken on administrative side indicating that the issue could be examined on judicial sidefavouring recording of court proceedings the asg said when it is the law of the land that all court proceedings shall be held in open court with access to public audio and video recordings of court proceedings is not in most of the matters likely to create any issues pertaining to privacy concerns of the persons participating in the said court proceedings and especially when this court has already stipulated that the recordings shall not be available either under rti or otherwisehe informed that 12 high courts had initiated the process for installing cctv camera in lower courts in compliance with apex courts order and recording would soon commence in those courtsaudiovideo recordings would eliminate the possibility of intimidation and threats by any person to witnesses on the basis of the recordings nonadherence to prescribed procedure while taking evidence and absence of lawyers at important stages of the proceedings despite presence marked by appearance slips etc the centre said in its replyin us most courts use the audio video footage as a document to review the proceedings before the lower court in other words the av footage is used by the appellate judges to hear the testimony of witnesses etc to decide the appeal since the