NEW DELHI: Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on Saturday inaugurated live proceedings of Gujarat High Court, calling it a measure “to widen the gates of justice”. He added that he was keen to start live proceedings at least for some of the courts in the Supreme Court. “We are working out the logistics and working on consensus of the full court. With the aid of modern technologies, I am given to understand that we can introduce this live streaming feature in a cost effective manner without imposing much of a burden on the exchequer,” said CJI Ramana.
He said since the inception of courts, proceedings have been based on the idea of transparency. He welcomed the move of extending this idea, from litigants to the public. “Lack of access could give space for misconception and live streaming is the best remedy for it. Judges should never shy away from public duty,” he said.
Live proceedings from the courtroom being accessible to the public, the CJI said, will reduce the scope of observations by the judiciary being misinterpreted. “Currently, the public obtains information about court proceedings through the media. In effect, information from the courts is being filtered by agents of transmission. In the process, there is sometimes a transmission loss leading to misinterpretation of questions asked and observations made by the bench, due to the absence of context. Vested interests are eager to amplify these misinterpretations in order to embarrass or discredit the institution,” the CJI said.
This livestreaming of proceedings, Justice Ramana said, was crucial for dissemination of information which is a sacrosanct aspect of Article 19. “Through such direct access, the people can get first-hand information about the entire proceedings and the opinions of the judges, leaving little room for any mischief.”