New Delhi: In a first, the proceedings of the ceremonial bench of the Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana were live streamed on Friday – the last day of his office.
As per custom, CJI Ramana shared the bench with the next Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit. Justice Hima Kohli was also a part of the bench. However, this is the first time that Supreme Court proceedings were live streamed on the National Informatics Centre (NIC) webcast portal.
Addressing the court, CJI Ramana said: “I have worked to the best of my ability”, but apologised for not paying “much attention” to the issue of listing and posting matters.
“I am sorry. We are busy with many things,” he said. CJI Ramana has faced criticism for not listing several important cases, including those pertaining to Article 370 of the Constitution, challenge to electoral bonds, and Karnataka’s hijab ban. In his address, he also called for deploying new technology, including artificial intelligence, and reforming the system through it.
Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave broke down while bidding the CJI farewell, calling him a “citizens’ judge”, and said, “I cannot hold back my emotions today… You performed your duty with spine.”
“You upheld the rights… you upheld the Constitution… you maintained a system of checks and balances,” he added.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta thanked CJI Ramana for being “an excellent karta” of the bar. Attorney General K.K. Venugopal also thanked the judge, but added: “This is not the age at which our judges of the Supreme Court should retire.”
Venugopal also called the CJI “outstanding”, pointing out that during his tenure, over 200 vacancies were filled in high courts and over 100 members were appointed to tribunals. He said the Supreme Court had a full court of 34 judges for the first time, calling it a “remarkable achievement”. “We are losing an intellectual and excellent judge,” he added.
Supreme Court bar association president Vikas Singh also spoke during the proceedings, saying, “It will be a great loss to all of us… Not only has your lordship taken care of us like part of a family… you have also ensured that the prestige of the institution is maintained.”
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal said: “We are going through very turbulent times,” adding that he would remember Justice Ramana “for the balance” that he maintained.
Live streaming court proceedings
The Supreme Court had authorised live streaming of court proceedings way back in 2018, in the Swapnil Tripathi judgment. In the judgment, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud had famously remarked that “sunlight is the best disinfectant”. Justice Chandrachud now heads the e-committee of the Supreme Court.
Soon after Justice Ramana took over the CJI’s office, he announced in July 2021 that he was keen to start live streaming proceedings and was working on getting all court judges to agree to it.
The announcement came months after the Gujarat High Court became the first in the country to live stream its hearings on Youtube. The live streaming at the Gujarat High Court began on 26 October 2020, after the Registrar General issued a press release communicating an order passed by then Chief Justice of the High Court, Vikram Nath. The high court’s Youtube channel now has over 1.4 crore views on its videos and the channel has 108k subscribers.
In June last year, the Supreme Court e-committee, headed by Justice Chandrachud, released draft model rules for live streaming and recording of court proceedings, inviting suggestions and inputs from all stakeholders. Since then, high courts of Gujarat, Orissa, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Patna, and Madhya Pradesh have also set up their own YouTube channels to live stream proceedings.
Also read: NV Ramana: The Chief Justice of India who didn’t like shouting in court