The Supreme Court in a full court held on September 20 decided to live stream its proceedings in crucial Constitution Bench cases that will be heard from September 27.
Key points
- The decision comes nearly four years after a plea was made in the interest of transparency.
The Supreme Court on August 26 had live streamed its proceedings for the first time.
- For now, the Supreme Court would stream its hearings on YouTube with technical support from the National Informatics Centre.
- For the long-term, the court is planning to launch a dedicated platform to live-stream hearings.
- The Supreme court’s Swapnil Tripathi v Supreme Court of India judgment of September 2018 had upheld the plea for live-streaming of its proceedings. In that judgment, the court had said live-streaming would “virtually” expand the court beyond the four walls of the courtroom.
- Justice Chandrachud, who was on the Bench, had observed that live-streaming of proceedings would be the true realisation of the “open court system” in which courts were accessible to all.
- Live-streaming of court proceedings has the potential of throwing up an option to the public to witness live court proceedings which they otherwise could not have due to logistical issues and infrastructural restrictions.
- In June 2021, the e-committee wrote to chief justices of all high courts in the country, seeking inputs on the draft rules for livestreaming and recording of court proceedings.
- Broadcasting court proceedings is a step in the direction of transparency and greater access to the justice system, but there are concerns around the impact of live streaming both on judges and the people watching the proceedings.
- To promote transparency, live-streaming has been allowed for both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha proceedings since 2004.
First live streaming in India
- In July 2022, Gujarat High Court became the first high court to begin live-streaming of court proceedings.
- Currently, six of the 25 high courts – Gujarat, Orissa, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Patna, and Madhya Pradesh – live-stream their proceedings on YouTube.
- The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court has held that access to Justice is a Fundamental Right guaranteed to citizens by Article 14 and Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
Examples of foreign countries
- The US Supreme Court has rejected pleas for broadcast of its proceedings, however, it has since 1955 allowed audio recording and transcripts of oral arguments.
- Live or delayed broadcasting is allowed in Australia but the practices and norms differ across courts.
- In Brazil, since 2002, live video and audio broadcast of court proceedings, including the deliberations and voting process undertaken by the judges in court, is allowed. A public television channel, TV Justiça, and a radio channel, Radio Justiça, were set up to broadcast video and audio.
- In Canada, proceedings are broadcast live on Cable Parliamentary Affairs Channel, accompanied by explanations of each case and the overall processes and powers of the court.
- In South Africa, since 2017, the Supreme Court of South Africa has allowed the media to broadcast court proceedings in criminal matters, as an extension of the right to freedom of expression.
