Next
week onwards, all constitution bench hearings in the Supreme Court will
be live-streamed.
On Tuesday, a full court, which comprised all judges
of the apex court, discussed the matter and decided on live-streaming
proceedings. According to people familiar with the development, judges agreed
that live-streaming could begin from September 27, with the broadcasting of
constitutional cases on a regular basis.
Last week, senior advocate Indira Jaising wrote to the
Chief Justice of India and other judges of the Supreme Court to begin
live-streaming proceedings of matters of public and constitutional importance,
and also to keep a permanent record of the arguments by counsel on all sides
along with the proceedings of the court.
Jaising said a number of matters of national importance,
which includes petitions challenging the EWS quota, hijab ban, Citizenship
Amendment Act, are being heard by the apex court and urged it to allow
live-streaming of cases as per the 2018 judgment, as a part of the fundamental
right of every citizen to freedom of information and also the right of access
to justice. "There is no substitute for first-hand knowledge, especially
in the era of what has come to be known as 'fake news' and hence, there is an
urgent need for real time information. Since the judgement was pronounced, I
have made repeated requests to the Hon'ble court to commence live-streaming
cases of national importance," said Jaising.
The cases likely to be live-streamed include petitions
challenging the EWS quota law, the Centre's petition on enhanced compensation
for victims of 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, excommunication in the Dawoodi Bohra
community, and the apex court's power to dissolve marriages on the ground of
irretrievable breakdown.
Jaising had said the apex court should have its own
channel and, in the meantime, the court can start streaming its proceedings on
its own website, as well as on YouTube. She added there is adequate
infrastructure and the ceremonial proceedings were live-streamed on the date of
retirement of a former Chief Justice N.V. Ramana
Gujarat, Orissa, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Patna, and
Madhya Pradesh High Courts live-stream their proceedings through their YouTube
channels.