Supreme Court to live-stream its Constitution Bench proceedings
Recently, the Supreme Court will live streaming (live streaming) the proceedings of the Constitution Bench from September 27.
- In the year 2021, the e-Committee of the Supreme Court issued model rules for live broadcast and recording of court proceedings in India.
- In the 2018 Swapnil Tripathi vs Supreme Court case, the apex court had ruled that live telecast of court proceedings is part of the ‘right to access to justice’ under Article 21 of the Constitution.
- Presently, six High Courts (Gujarat, Odisha, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Patna and Madhya Pradesh) broadcast live court proceedings through their YouTube channels.
- The live telecast of the proceedings of the Supreme Court is part of Phase III of the e-Courts project. The e-Courts project is an initiative to promote the use of information and communication technology in the judiciary.
Advantages of live telecast of court proceedings-
- More transparency and public review will be ensured in the judicial process through open proceedings.
- It will promote inclusivity and aid research in the legal field.
- This will increase the legal awareness among the people and their confidence in judicial integrity.
Challenges and related issues-
- There is a lack of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure. For example, instead of its own platform, YouTube is used for live broadcasting.
- There is a shortage of trained people. Moreover, the digital divide also exists in India.
- To ensure the safety of victims and witnesses, it will be necessary to maintain greater data security and privacy.
- The danger of sensationalizing the matter by the media will remain.
- Public opinion is expected to have a greater impact on judges.
About Constitution-
- When there is a need to resolve an important legal dispute or to interpret a provision of the Constitution, a Constitution Bench is constituted.
- Under Article 145(3) of the Constitution, provision has been made to constitute a Constitution Bench of 5, 7, 9 or more judges.
Source – The Hindu
