ADVERTISEMENT

Ayodhya Case Hearings: Supreme Court Asks Its Registry If Live Streaming Is Possible

Supreme Court asked its Registry to inform it whether live streaming of ongoing hearing in Ayodhya land dispute case was possible.

Souvenirs at a market stall in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. (Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg)
Souvenirs at a market stall in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. (Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg)

The Supreme Court on Monday asked its Registry whether live streaming of Ayodhya case hearings is possible, and if it is, then how much time it would take to do so.

Appearing before the Supreme Court for former Rashtirya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologue KN Govindacharya, said petitioners in the Ayodhya case have faith in the Supreme Court but several of them cannot come to the court to take part in the hearing on daily basis.

Since they they cannot be present in person, live streaming of the Ayodhya case hearings will help them to know about details of the proceedings, Singh said.

After the Supreme Court bench passed the order, Singh sought to know from the bench about the deadline of the report from Registry. The bench, however, said it depends on Registry.

On Sept. 6, a bench headed by Justices RF Nariman had referred the plea to the bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi.

Govindacharya, in his plea filed through lawyer Virag Gupta, has said that if live telecast of the Ayodhya case hearings was not possible, then at least audio recording or transcription of the hearing should be done.

Singh referred to the Sept. 26, 2018, verdict of the apex court which had allowed live-streaming of court proceedings of cases of constitutional and national importance, saying this openness was like "sunlight" which is the "best disinfectant".

The plea has said the top court was hearing the Ayodhya case even on miscellaneous days, which shows that it was dealing with the matter extraordinarily and therefore, audio recordings could be "started immediately".

A five-judge Supreme Court bench has been hearing the Ayodhya case from Aug. 6 on daily basis to decide the politically-sensitive land dispute, after efforts to arrive at an amicable settlement through mediation failed.