During the hearing of the Suo Motu RG Kar case, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud emphasized that the Supreme Court is committed to ensuring the protection of lawyers who may face threats or harassment for their involvement in the case.

At the outset of today's hearing, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the State of West Bengal, informed the Court about the social media threats directed at his female junior colleagues in his office.

"We are getting threats that acid will be thrown, we will be raped (women lawyers in the case)," Sibal said expressing concern.

The Senior Counsel raised concerns, stating that the live-streaming of the proceedings was causing problems.

"What happens when you livestream matters like this which has huge emotive implications...We are not representing the accused, we appear for the state and as soon as the court is making a comment, our reputation is getting destroyed overnight. We have 50 years of reputation!"

"It's also about our reputation! There are posts about me "laughing", where was I laughing? This is not fair! It spreads to the women in our chamber"

Taking note of the same, the CJI "Is there a threat to any of the women? Woman or man appearing in a matter .... alright we will take care of that "

Referring to the decision in the *Swapnil Tripathi* case, Sibal urged the court to halt the live streaming of the proceedings, citing the sensitive nature of the matter.

However, the CJI emphasized that live streaming could not be disallowed, as the case was a matter of public interest and the hearing must take place in an open court.

"We will not stop the livestreaming. It is in public interest." CJI said.

Notably, in the *Swapnil Tripathi* case, the bench comprising then Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice AM Khanwilkar, and Justice DY Chandrachud had emphasized the importance of transparency. Justice Chandrachud remarked, "Sunlight is the best disinfectant. Live-streaming, as an extension of the principle of open courts, will ensure that the interface between a court hearing and virtual reality will lead to the widest possible dissemination of information, imparting transparency and accountability to the judicial process."