Jaising asks CJI, SC judges to livestream SC proceedings in cases of national importance

Senior advocate Indira Jaising has asked Chief Justice of India U U Lalit and other Supreme Court judges to "immediately commence" live streaming of hearings in a number of matters of national importance, including the EWS quota, Hijab ban, Citizenship Amendment Act, in terms of the 2018 judgement, as a part of the fundamental right of every citizen to freedom of information as also the right of access to justice.

Citing Article 129 of the Constitution, which states that the Supreme Court is a court of record, she requested to start live streaming the proceedings as also to keep a permanent record of the arguments by counsel on all sides to be part of the record that is preserved along with the proceedings of the court.

"The court should have its own channel. In the meantime, the court can start streaming its proceedings on its own website, as well as on YouTube," she said in a letter, while referring to one such live streaming that took place on the date of retirement of them CJI N V Ramana.

Almost all cases now being argued in the Supreme Court related to challenges on the ground that those provisions discriminate against citizens either on the basis of caste, or sex or religion or any of them together, or separately, she said.

In that understanding of the matter, every single citizen of India is interested in the outcome of these cases, she added.

Jaising, who also filed a plea for live streaming of cases, "In arguments advanced in court in cases of constitutional law, I have a deep interest in observing proceedings in court in real time and when necessary to write about them. There is no substitute for first hand knowledge, especially in the era of what has come to be known as “fake news” and hence, there is an urgent need for real time information."