Supreme Court to allow live-stream TV relay of major cases

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday took a major leap in imparting transparency in the functioning of the judiciary by allowing live-streaming of court proceedings in cases of constitutional and national importance, saying this openness was like “sunlight” which is the “best disinfectant”.

It said as a pilot project, only a specified category of cases which are of constitutional or national importance and are being argued before a Constitution Bench, should be live-streamed.

The court said that sensitive cases such as those dealing with matrimonial disputes or sexual assault should not be live-streamed.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud, in two different but concurring judgments, said: “We hold that the cause brought before this court by the protagonists in the larger public interest deserves acceptance so as to up-hold the constitutional rights of the public and litigants in particular.”

“Above all, sunlight is the best disinfectant,” Justice Chandrachud, writing a separate but concurring verdict, said, adding that live-streaming “as an extension of the principle of open courts will ensure that the interface between a court hearing with virtual reality will result in the dissemination of information in the widest possible sense, imparting transparency and accountability to the judicial process”.

Justice Khanwilkar, who penned the verdict for the CJI and himself, said: “In recognising that court proceedings ought to be live-streamed, this court is mindful of and has strived to balance the various interests regarding the administration of justice, including open justice, dignity and privacy of the participants to the proceedings and the majesty and decorum of the courts”.

Highlighting contours of the live-streaming mechanism, he said: “To begin with, only a specified category of cases or cases of constitutional and national importance being argued for final hearing before the Constitution Bench be live-streamed as a pilot project.” The bench said that for live-streaming, the permission of the concerned court will have to be sought in writing, in advance, in conformity with the prescribed procedure.

The bench, however, said that “the concerned court would retain its power to revoke the permission at any stage of the proceedings suo motu (on its own) or on an application filed by any party to the proceedings, if the situation so warrants”.

The court said: “There must be a reasonable time delay (say 10 minutes) between the live court proceedings and the broadcast, in order to ensure that any information which ought not to be shown, as directed by the court, can be edited from being broadcast”. It said that till a full-fledged module and mechanism for live-streaming of court proceedings over the Internet is evolved, the first phase of live-streaming would start from designated areas in the Supreme Court. The court listed the designated areas as a dedicated media room for litigants, interns and advocates, having special provisions to accommodate differently-abled people.

Other designated areas include the Supreme Court Bar Association room, the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association room, official chambers of the attorney-general, solicitor-general and additional solicitors-general, advocate chambers and the press reporters room.

It said “the focus of the cameras in the courtroom will be directed only towards two sets of people — the judges hearing the matter and at such an angle so as to only show the anterior-facing side of the justices, without revealing anything from behind the elevated platform or level on which the justices sit”. The cameras will also show the arguing advocates from such an angle that it does not reveal in any way the contents of notes or reference material being relied upon.

The bench said that the copyright over the broadcast material will be retained by the court which will have the final say in respect of use of the coverage material.

Justice Chandrachud said those people who are not personally involved in  litigation depend on information provided about judicial decisions in the newspapers and in the electronic media. “The time has come for this court to take a step further in adopting technology and to enable live-streaming of its proceedings. Live-streaming of courtroom proceedings is an extension of the principle of open courts. Live-streaming will have the ability to reach a wide number of audiences with the touch of a button,” he said.