Kerala HC bars lawyer from VC after he records, uploads court proceedings to his YouTube channel

The Kerala High Court on Thursday initiated contempt of court proceedings against advocate Mathews J Nedumpara for recording court proceedings and uploading it to his YouTube channel without authorisation [Suo motu proceedings initiated by the High Court v. Adv Mathews J Nedumpara]

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar VM also barred Nedumpara from appearing in any online/virtual court proceedings in Kerala until further orders.

"Considering the fact that the alleged contemnor is an Advocate, we are not formally issuing a rule of contempt at this stage. However, the Department is directed to cause notice to be served on the alleged contemnor within one week from the date. The matter shall be made returnable on 7th September 2026. The alleged contemnor shall not be allowed to participate in any court proceedings in Kerala through online or virtual mode until further orders," the order said.

The contempt case was initiated suo motu by the Court after its registry submitted a report stating that Nedumpara had been recording and uploading court proceedins despite repeated warnings that such unauthorised actions are violative of the Rule 3(9) of the Electronic Audio-Video Linkage Rules (Kerala), 2025.

Rule 3(9) expressly prohibits broadcasting, photographing, publishing, recording or sharing of proceedings conducted under the Rules, either wholly or in part, except with the written permission of the High Court, or the concerned court of forum.

The Court said that the titles under which Nedumpara had published two videos, namely “You be the judge. Cameras can't lie. Denial of Justice to MSMEs. Watch full video on my YouTube and X” and “Cameras cannot lie. Denial of Justice to MSMEs. You be the judge” also constituted criminal contempt as per Section 2(c)(i) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.

The Court ordered that notice of contempt proceedings be served on Nedumpara.

The matter will be taken up next on September 7.

"The Department is directed to circulate this order to the Hon'ble Judges of this Court and District Courts for information. This order shall be immediately intimated to the Registrar (Computerisation)–cum-Director (IT) for compliance. The Registry shall also immediately communicate this order to the alleged contemnor," the order said.

[Read Order]