[BREAKING] Keen to start live streaming of Supreme Court proceedings; working on full court consensus: CJI NV Ramana

Chief Justice of India NV Ramana today hinted that the Supreme Court might soon start live streaming of court proceedings from at least some of the courtrooms of the top court. .He said that the apex court is working out logistics regarding the same and is also trying to get a full court consensus."We are keen to start live proceedings for at least some of the courts of the Supreme Court. We are working out the logistics and working on the consensus of the full court. With the age of modern technologies, I have been given to understand that we can introduce this feature in a cost effective manner," the CJI said.He was speaking at the official launch of live streaming of court proceedings of Gujarat High Court. .During his address the CJI opined that live streaming is an essential part of Article 19 of the Constitution and is important in order to ensure public confidence and faith in the judiciary..He also said that though court hearings have always been open to lawyers, litigants and the public at large, the harsh realities of poverty, social inequality, lack of awareness, cost, distance and time made it difficult for parts of the population to actively attend court hearings..The CJI also found that a lack of transparency in the justice delivery system also hinders access to justice and live streaming is the best remedy.“Truth be told, even after 74 years of independence, multiple incorrect notions still prevail in the eyes of the public regarding the justice delivery system. These prevailing notions and misapprehensions ultimately hinder the access to justice as they disincline people to seek redressal. Therefore, it is high time to demystify the justice delivery system,” the CJI said. .He also went on to observe that formalisation of live streaming of court proceedings is the best tool to avoid the spread of misinformation.“Currently, the public obtains information about court proceedings through media. In effect, the information from the courts is being filtered by the 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 amplify these misinterpretations in order to embarrass or discredit the judicial system. It is this lack of direct access which leaves space for misconceptions.”.Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice MR Shah also participated in the inauguration and addressed the audience..Since, October 26, 2020 the proceedings in the Chief Justice court of Gujarat High Court was being streamed on YouTube on an experimental basis.This was in keeping with the judgment of the Supreme Court in Swapnil Tripathi vs Supreme Court of India.This pilot exercise successfully continued for more than eight months with more than 65,000 subscribers and 41 lac views received on the official YouTube Channel.With the experiment going smoothly and receiving an encouraging response from all stakeholders, the Court decided to extend the same to all willing benches and make it official.