TMC’s Gokhale seeks law to record judges’ oral observations in court, make them public
“...The government is a house of record. Everything gets documented in writing; even files have to have notations on them. Everything has to be recorded and is available under the RTI Act,” Gokhale told The Indian Express, adding, “It is the same with Parliament...”
Trinamool Congress’s Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale on Friday sought a law mandating the recording, transcription and public availability of accurate records, even oral observations by judges, of proceedings of all courts from the district-level to the Supreme Court.
Introducing a private members’ Bill — Records of Court Proceedings Bill, 2025 —in the Upper House during the second half of the day’s proceedings, Gokhale said it is aimed at bringing a law which would require the maintenance of “an accurate public record of proceedings of all courts in India which will be transcribed in writing”.
“…The government is a house of record. Everything gets documented in writing; even files have to have notations on them. Everything has to be recorded and is available under the Right to Information Act,” Gokhale told The Indian Express.
“It is the same with Parliament – transcripts of the day’s proceedings are published every day, every word that is uttered gets into the record of Parliament. Something unparliamentary may get expunged but the rest is recorded and that too for perpetuity. As far as our judiciary is concerned, only the written orders… become a part of judicial records,” he said.
While the Government is accountable to Parliament and Parliament to the people, the judiciary “seems to be accountable only to itself”, said the MP.
“The judiciary is the only institution where the oversight, appointments – everything is done within the institution; they are not accountable to any other branch of the state,” he said.
“This (the proposed law) will make judicial proceedings more transparent; why look at a case only through a summation at the end of a few years. Today, a challenge to an order is only to the text of it and not its entire context. This will enable litigants to challenge not just a particular judgment order but also the rationale behind it from point A to point Z,” he said.
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Gokhale said the private members’ Bill seeks to bring the Supreme Court, all High Courts as well as subordinate courts as stated under Part VI (Chapter VI) of the Constitution under its ambit and “court proceedings” mean “all words uttered by magistrates, judges, lawyers, and any other parties involved in a matter when that matter is being heard by any court (civil or criminal) in India”.
The “transcript” refers to “an accurate verbatim record of the proceedings of the court in writing” which would be maintained as “public information”, mandate a transcript of daily proceedings being uploaded by every court on its website within 24 hours and also treated as information under the Right to Information Act, 2005.
Jatin Anand is an Assistant Editor with the national political bureau of The Indian Express. With over 16 years of experience in mainstream journalism, he is a seasoned expert in national governance, electoral politics, and bureaucratic affairs. Having covered high-stakes beats including the Election Commission of India (ECI), intelligence, and urban development, Jatin provides authoritative analysis of the forces shaping Indian democracy. He is an alumnus of Zakir Husain Delhi College (DU) and the prestigious Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), Chennai, where he specialized in Print Journalism.
Expertise
High-Stakes Beat Coverage: Throughout his decade-and-a-half career, Jatin has covered some of the most sensitive and influential beats in the country, including:
The Election Commission of India (ECI): Monitoring electoral policy, reforms, and the conduct of national and state polls.
National Security & Intelligence: Reporting on the internal mechanisms and developments within India's security apparatus.
Urban Development: Analyzing the policies and bureaucratic processes driving the transformation of India’s cities.
National Political Bureau: In his current role, he tracks the intersection of policy and politics, offering deep-dive reporting on the Union government and national political movements.
Academic Credentials:
Zakir Husain Delhi College (DU): Alumnus of one of Delhi's premier institutions.
Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), Chennai: Specialized in Print Journalism at India's most prestigious journalism school. ... Read More
