New Delhi: Come Tuesday, the Supreme Court will begin live streaming its Constitution bench proceedings, which can be accessed at: webcast.gov.in/scindia/
The apex court will live stream three separate five-judge Constitution benches.
A five-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice U.U. Lalit will continue to hear petitions challenging the validity of 10 per cent quota for economically weaker sections (EWS) in jobs and education. Another bench headed by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud will hear a matter related to control of services in an ongoing dispute between Delhi and the Central government. Also, a five-judge bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul would hear the validity of the All India Bar Examination.
Recently, senior advocate Indira Jaising wrote to the Chief Justice of India and other judges of the Supreme Court to begin live streaming of proceedings of matters of public and constitutional importance, and also to keep a permanent record of the arguments by counsel on all sides along with the proceedings of the court.
Jaising said a number of matters of national importance, which includes petitions challenging the EWS quota, hijab ban, Citizenship Amendment Act, are being heard by the apex court and urged it to allow live streaming of cases as per 2018 judgment, as a part of the fundamental right of every citizen to freedom of information and also the right of access to justice.
“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. Since the judgement was pronounced, I have made repeated requests to the Hon’ble court to commence live streaming cases of national importance,” she said.
