During the virtual hearing of Delhi High Court, the proceedings were disrupted by obscene content and “You are hacked” audio. The session had to be closed after repeated interruptions. The IFSO unit is investigating whether it was a cyber attack or misuse of the platform.
New Delhi. On Wednesday, a virtual hearing going on before the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court was suddenly interrupted. Obscene content and disturbing audio were repeatedly played during the hearing, causing serious disruption to the proceedings. The incident occurred when the division bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and Justice Tejas Karia was hearing cases through video conferencing. According to reports, during the live proceedings at around 12:56 pm, objectionable pictures suddenly started appearing on the screen. Also, an automated voice ‘You have been hacked’ was heard repeatedly.
Video conferencing session ends immediately
To handle the situation, the court staff immediately stopped the video conferencing session. However, when the hearing was resumed a few minutes later, the same problem came to the fore again. It was reported that a person logged in with the name “Sh**jit Singh” again posted objectionable content, due to which the proceedings had to be halted once again.
Hearing stopped completely after third interruption
Despite efforts to normalize the situation, the session was interrupted for the third time shortly after it resumed. After this the officials had to stop the virtual hearing completely. The proceedings could not be resumed till the time of writing the news.
Impact on PIL cases
Wednesday is usually scheduled for hearing of public interest litigations (PIL). About 100 cases were listed that day. Lawyers and petitioners faced a lot of hassle and delay due to repeated blockages. Officials are now investigating the entire matter in depth and trying to identify those who may be responsible behind the disruption.
Fear of cyber attack, investigation started
After the incident, the High Court administration has taken the matter seriously and has lodged a formal complaint with the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of Delhi Police. Preliminary investigation has been started to find out whether this is a case of a cyber attack or deliberate misuse of the video conferencing platform.