The Supreme Court is set to begin live-streaming its Constitution bench proceedings from Tuesday onwards, with the first regular webcast featuring the hearing of petitions challenging reservation for Economically Weaker Sections and the dispute over control of services between the Centre and the Delhi government, news agency PTI reported.
On September 27, 2018, the then-CJI Dipak Misra, presiding over a bench, gave a historic judgment on live transmission or webcast of key hearings on issues of constitutional importance, stating that sunlight is the greatest disinfectant.
According to an official, the sessions can be viewed at webcast.gov.in/scindia/.
Earlier, a bench led by Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit said that the Supreme Court will soon have its own platform to live-stream its sessions rather than relying on YouTube.
This was said by the bench after former BJP leader K N Govindacharya's attorney contended that the copyright of the Supreme Court's proceedings cannot be transferred to private platforms.
Lawyer Virag Gupta told the bench, which also included Justices S Ravindra Bhat and J B Pardiwala, that YouTube had obviously asserted copyright over the webcast.
"These are the preliminary phases. We will, without a doubt, have our own platforms... We will take care of that (copyright problem)," said the CJI, PTI reported
According to a 2018 decision, the lawyer, the copyright over any material filmed and transmitted in this court shall vest solely with this court.
He also mentioned YouTube's terms of service, claiming that this private site also owns the copyright.
The highest court resolved unanimously at a recent full court meeting led by the CJI to live-stream sessions of all constitution bench hearings beginning September 27, four years after Justice Misra's groundbreaking statement in 2018.
According to sources, the Supreme Court may live-stream events on YouTube and then host them on its server. People will be able to easily access the proceedings on their cell phones, laptops, and desktops, PTI reported.
For the first time since its formation, the Supreme Court live-streamed proceedings of a bench led by then Chief Justice (now retired) N V Ramana through a webcast platform on August 26. It was a formal ceremony because Justice Ramana was retiring that day.
Several significant cases will be considered by the Supreme Court's five-judge constitution benches. These include challenges to the constitutional legitimacy of the 103rd constitution amendment allocating a 10% quota to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and petitions questioning the constitutional legality of the Citizenship Amendment Act.
(With Inputs From PTI)