NEW DELHI: Senior advocate Indira Jaising on Friday told the Supreme Court that cases of constitutional and national importance and those important for the public should be streamed live. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra sought the assistance of Attorney General K K Venugopal in the case and slated the hearing for two weeks later. If the move is accepted, some of the apex court’s proceedings will be seen live.
Jaising, the petitioner in the case, clarified to the court that the petition only sought live streaming of cases of constitutional and national importance that would impact the public, and not other cases. The petition said such live streaming would empower and provide access to ordinary citizens who cannot personally go to the court due to social and economic constraints even though the decision might affect them.
The PIL filed by Indira Jaising states that live streaming would be in keeping with the principle of open access to justice and will ensure justice is not only done but is also seen to be done.
Such an exercise would inspire confidence in the functioning of the judiciary as an institution and help maintain the respect that it deserves as a co-equal organ of the state, the petition said.
It added that live streaming would also end any chances of misreporting, errors or spread of second-hand information.
The petition referred to courts dealing with issues of the environment, triple talaq, air pollution, ban on liquor to prevent deaths on national highways, ban on firecrackers to prevent air and noise pollution and extrajudicial killings, all of which affect the public, which does not get to see how decisions are taken by the court.
The petition also stated how other countries, including Canada, Australia, Britain, New Zealand and South Africa, the European Court of Human Rights, and the International Criminal Court, permit varying degrees of recording of court proceedings.