The petition filed by former RSS idealogue KN Govindacharya seeking live streaming of proceedings in the Ram Mandir – Babri Masjid case was mentioned before Supreme Court for urgent listing.
Senior Advocate Vikas Singh mentioned the matter before Justice SA Bobde, since Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi is not sitting today.
When the matter was mentioned, Justice Bobde said that the Court does not have the equipment to facilitate live streaming.
Singh said that for the time being, recording of proceedings could be done. Live streaming could be considered later.
Justice Bobde declined to pass any order to list the case, but assured Singh that the matter will be considered on the administrative side.
Last week, former RSS Idealogue KN Govindacharya had filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking live streaming of the proceedings in Ayodhya case.
Govindacharya has placed reliance on the judgment of the Supreme Court in Centre for Accountability and Systemic Change v. Secretary General in which the Supreme Court had allowed the live streaming of cases of Constitutional importance that take place in the court of the Chief Justice of India.
Contending that Ram Mandir-Babri Majid case “has created large-scale interest across India”, the petitioner has contended that crores of people would be interested in witnessing the proceedings but might not be able to do so due to the norms in Supreme Court.
The Ayodhya case has been pending in Supreme Court since 2010. On March 8 this year, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court had referred the long-standing Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid dispute for mediation. The mediation panel was chaired by former Supreme Court judge Justice FMI Kalifulla along with spiritualist Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Senior Advocate Sriram Panchu.
However, the mediation process did not yield the desired results. The Supreme Court had, therefore, decided to start hearing the case on a day-to-day basis from August 6.
