'You’ve been hacked': Porn videos interrupt Delhi HC hearings thrice; probe on

E-PaperSubscribeSubscribeEnjoy unlimited accessSubscribe Now! Get features like Video conference (VC) hearings before multiple benches of the Delhi High Court, including that of the Chief Justice, were suspended on Wednesday after a user, logged in as Shitjeet Singh played pornographic content. Obscene videos were played at Delhi HC on Wednesday. (PTI file)The incident in chief justice DK Upadhyaya’s court occurred thrice. The first disruption took place around 12.56pm, after which the VC session was briefly suspended and then resumed. However, minutes later, the user played the content again, forcing a longer suspension of the proceedings. When the VC restarted the second time, the screen initially remained blank before becoming visible to participants. However, shortly thereafter, the user played pornographic content with a voice in the background saying: “This is a hack from the United States. Turn off the meeting right now, do not turn it again. You’ve been hacked”. Following this, the VC proceedings were shut down entirely and resumed only after the court reconvened post-lunch around 2.30pm. However, despite the disruption, the physical court proceedings continued without interruption. Following the incident, the Delhi High Court administration lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police’s Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations unit (IFSO), officials familiar with the matter said, adding that an investigation is underway. The chief justice said he has issued administrative directions to registrar general Arun Bharadwaj to take action to restrain the dissemination of videos of court proceedings, including pornographic content. The chief justice said that, under the rules, recording court proceedings is prohibited. “Administratively, I have already instructed the RG. We are making a request with the mechanism available for that. As per the rules, the recording is prohibited. It’s against the rules and as per the norms, I have already instructed the RG, and it will be done,” the chief justice said. This came after additional solicitor general Chetan Sharma mentioned the issue in the post-lunch session before a bench of chief justice Upadhyaya and justice Tejas Karia, informing the court that the incident had occurred not only in the chief justice’s court but in other courts as well. He submitted that it had affected the sanctity and integrity of the institution and urged the court to direct immediate removal of the content and prevent its further dissemination. To be sure, this is not the first time that such an incident has happened in the Delhi High Court. In September 2024, court proceedings were disrupted by an unknown miscreant who logged into its WebEx meeting platform and played pornographic video content in four courtrooms. Virtual hearings have also posed challenges for the judges in maintaining the court’s decorum. In many cases, the court has initiated suo motu contempt proceedings against lawyers for their inappropriate online behaviour. A woman, an Indian citizen living in Australia, who joined proceedings before the Delhi High Court through videoconferencing for one of her cases, found herself in the dock for using abusive language while she was unmuted during the hearing in 2024. The high court, shocked at her conduct, has initiated suo motu contempt proceedings against the woman, demanding her personal presence before it.