Livestreaming of SC hearings has a ‘flip side’, says CJI DY Chandrachud

In September last year, the Supreme Court, for the first time in its history, began livestreaming of hearing of cases.

Published on: May 6, 2023, 13:35:19 IST

By HT News Desk, New Delhi

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The livestreaming of Supreme Court proceedings has a ‘flip side,’ as every word spoken by judges in the court is now up in the public realm, Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud remarked on Saturday.

CJI Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud (Hindustan Times)

“Livestreaming that we are doing, has a flip side…we as judges need to be trained ourselves, because we are now working in the age of social media. Every word we say in the court, is up on the public realm,” said CJI Chandrachud, according to PTI. He was delivering a speech at the inauguration ceremony of Neutral Citation for the Indian Judiciary and National Conference on Digitization, in Bhubaneswar.

The CJI continued: “Today, most high courts are doing livestreaming on YouTube…you have these little clips about a judge in the Patna high court asking an IAS officer as to why he was not appropriately dressed in a suit, as opposed to being dressed only in a shirt and a trouser. Or somebody in the Gujarat high court saying something about, you know, why a lawyer is not ready with her cases. So, a lot of funny stuff is going on the YouTube, which we need to control. This is serious stuff…what happens in a court is extremely serious stuff.”

Livestreaming of Supreme Court proceedings

In September last year, for the first time in its history, the apex court began livestreaming of the hearing of cases. In September 2018, then-CJI Dipak Misra had passed a landmark ruling regarding the live broadcasting of important cases, saying, "sunlight is the best disinfectant.'

For those interested, the top court broadcasts hearings on its website, as well as YouTube channel.

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