You may soon be able to watch some Supreme Court proceedings live
Governance

You may soon be able to watch some Supreme Court proceedings live

A three-judge bench of the apex court reluctantly supports the idea of live streaming, says live-tweeting is worse.

   
Supreme Court of India

File image of the Supreme Court of India | Manisha Mondal | ThePrint

A three-judge bench of the apex court reluctantly supports the idea of live streaming, says live-tweeting is worse.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has indicated that it is open to the idea of live streaming court proceedings on a pilot basis. But a three-judge bench of the top court reserved its order Friday on a plea by senior advocate Indira Jaising seeking live streaming.

The Centre supported Jaising’s plea but expressed its reservation saying there are certain cases that are sensitive in nature and must not be streamed live.

“Let us first start with it. We are just on a pilot project. We are not ruling out anything and will improve with time,” said Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, expressing apprehension on the likelihood of misuse of the recorded proceedings.


Also read: A lot can go wrong for Indian democracy if court proceedings are streamed live on TV


Weighing in on the matter, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said, “If a judge is making a certain remark, it should be recorded.”

‘Live-tweeting’

The court’s agreement comes months after accredited journalists were allowed to bring mobile phones inside courtrooms to share proceedings in real time.

“This problem is worse without live streaming. There are people live tweeting from inside the court and there is no official or authentic record of it,” said Chandrachud, who was on the bench along with CJI Misra and Justice A.M. Khanwilkar.

Jaising moved the Supreme Court in January saying live telecast in cases of national importance will increase access to courts and “negate second-hand information”.

“The right to seek, receive information including live streaming of Supreme Court proceedings is a fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression,” Jaising said in her petition.

In the past year, particularly during the Aadhaar and the Right to Privacy hearings, several Twitter handles live-tweeted the proceedings.

‘Restricted usage’

Supporting Jaising’s plea, Attorney General K.K. Venugopal said, “Live streaming of court proceedings should be introduced as a pilot project in Court No. 1 and only in Constitution bench references. The success of this project will determine whether or not live streaming should be introduced in all courts in the Supreme Court and in courts pan India.”

“The court must have the power to limit, temporarily suspend or disallow filming or broadcasting, if in its opinion, such measures are likely to interfere with the rights of the parties to a fair trial or otherwise interfere with the proper administration of justice,” Venugopal added.

On 9 July, the top court directed the AG to submit guidelines in the event the bench agreed to Jaising’s plea. In response, the Centre Friday submitted guidelines the court could follow.

However, among other guidelines, the Centre’s affidavit proposed, “Use of the footage would be restricted for the purpose of news, current affairs and educational purposes and should not be used for commercial, promotion, light entertainment, satirical programs or advertising.”


Also read: It’s time the Supreme Court went live, your lordships


 

‘Impossible to put a check’

Think tank Centre for Accountability and Systemic Change (CASC), one of the interveners, supported the idea but cautioned the court on the dangers of technology as well.

Advocate Virag Gupta, representing CASC, said live streaming may cause ridicule on social media through circulation of memes, doctored videos, etc. “Experience shows that once videos of court proceedings will be out in public, it will be humanly impossible to put a check on their reproduction/forwarding/editing.”

Several countries across the world stream court proceedings in a limited capacity, including Britain, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa, among others.