SC to livestream Constitution Bench proceedings from September 27

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 21

The Supreme Court has decided to livestream all Constitution Bench proceedings from September 27.

Taken in a Full Court meeting chaired by Chief Justice of India UU Lalit on Tuesday, the decision came almost four years after the top court decided in favour of live streaming of court proceedings, terming it as “need of the hour”.

There has to be “promptness” in such things, it had said, ceding to demands of live streaming of important cases, particularly Constitution Bench matters.

“We have already adopted a system of open courts, there is no reason why it should not be live streamed,” the top court had said.

Several important Constitution Bench matters such as EWS quota law and Citizenship Amendment Act were lined up for hearing.

Attorney general KK Venugopal had supported live streaming of court proceedings on the ground that it would bring in more transparency; benefit litigants and also reduce the rush in the court during hearing of important matters.

Last week, senior advocate Indira Jaising had written to the CJI and his brother judges seeking live streaming of the Constitution Bench proceedings. She had asserted that freedom of information is a part of the fundamental right of citizens.

Earlier, the Supreme Court on August 26 live-streamed proceedings of a Bench led by the then CJI NV Ramana on his last day in office.

The Supreme Court’s e-Committee led by Justice DY Chandrachud has been working on creating its own platform which can also be used by high courts – six of which were already live streaming their proceedings -- and will address privacy and security concerns as well.

Gujarat, Orissa, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Patna, and Madhya Pradesh high courts are already live streaming their proceedings on their YouTube channels.

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