New Delhi: Attorney General K.K. Venugopal informed the Supreme Court on Monday that video recording and live streaming of judicial proceedings can be undertaken on a trial basis in constitutional matters, which can be extended to other matters later on. The AG made this submission before a three-judge Bench comprising the Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud hearing petitions seeking a direction for live telecast of court proceedings.
On July 9, the CJI had agreed in principle for this proposal and asked suggestions from the AG and petitioners Indira Jaising and others. During the resumed hearing on Monday, the AG said that a pilot project for live streaming and video recording could be undertaken initially in constitutional matters. This can be analysed after three months to ascertain how it functions technologically, he said and added that the experiment could be extended to other matters and other courts.
Ms Jaising agreed with the AG, but also submitted that adequate safeguards should be made to ensure that clippings of the recordings are not used for commercial purposes. The Court listed the matter for August 3. On July 9 the CJI had said that, “It was the need of the hour” and had indicated that the apex court was open to the suggestion for the live telecast as it would ensure transparency and make ‘access to justice’ by a litigant a reality.
