All constitutional bench proceedings before the Supreme Court of India will now be live-streamed, signalling a historic turn toward more transparency. The final choice was made during a full court conference that Chief Justice of India (CJI) Uday Umesh Lalit ordered last week. The judges unanimously agreed to webcast the bench cases involving constitutional law during the meeting. The National Informatics Centre (NIC), which uses YouTube as a streaming platform, is broadcasting three constitutional court sessions simultaneously on webcast.gov.in.
The court is deliberating the constitutionality of the 10% reserve for the Economically Weaker Sections in one of the cases being aired live (EWS). The political upheaval in Maharashtra is another instance, as is the continuing struggle between the Central and Delhi governments over jurisdiction.
The Bhopal Gas Tragedy compensation adequacy, the Bohra community’s ability to be excommunicated, and the retroactive application of arrest immunity are among the other significant cases that will be live-streamed in the following days. But according to the CJI, the court will soon have its own platform, allowing it to stop depending on YouTube to transmit live events. Four years ago, in the ‘Swapnil Tripathi’ case, the Supreme Court in India gave its preliminary approval to the notion.
In a ruling issued in late 2018, the Supreme Court stated that viewing live telecasts of court hearings was protected under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. No one may be deprived of their life or personal liberty until doing so in accordance with a legal process, pursuant to Article 21’s protection of human life and liberty. The nation’s top court broadcast its sessions live for the first time during the final week of August, when a ceremonial bench said goodbye to departing Chief Justice NV Ramana.
The High Courts of Gujarat, Orissa, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Patna, and Madhya Pradesh have been hosting live-streaming of the proceedings through their own YouTube channels since as early as 2020, whereas the Supreme Court is only now embracing the practise. India now joins the list of nations that allow live streaming of court proceedings, along with the UK, South Africa, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Germany, and China.
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