In historic first, SC live streams constitutional bench hearing

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday started livestreaming of its hearings. The apex court had on Monday said it would have its own 'platform' to live stream proceedings and the use of YouTube for the purpose was temporary.

In a unanimous decision taken by the recent full court meeting headed by the CJI UU Lalit, the court decided to live stream proceedings of all constitution bench hearings, almost four years after a path-breaking verdict in this regard was delivered in 2018.

Sources said the top court may live stream proceedings through YouTube and later host them on its server. People would be able to access proceedings of the apex court on their cell phones, laptops, and computers without any hassle.

Former BJP leader KN Govindacharya's counsel on Monday argued that the copyright of apex court proceedings cannot be surrendered to private platforms like YouTube. "YouTube has clearly sought the copyright over the webcast," lawyer Virag Gupta told the court. "These are the initial stages. We will certainly have our own platforms...We will take care of that (copyright issue)," the CJI-led bench said and listed Govindacharya's interim plea for hearing on October 17.

Referring to a 2018 judgement, the lawyer said it was held that "the copyright over all the material recorded and broadcast in this court shall vest with this court only". He also referred to the terms of use of YouTube and said this private platform also gets the copyright. On August 26, for the first time since its inception, the Supreme Court live streamed proceedings of a bench headed by then CJI NV Ramana through a webcast portal. It was a ceremonial proceeding as Justice Ramana was to demit office that day.

Several important cases are to be heard by five-judge constitution benches of the apex court. These include the validity of the 103rd constitution amendment granting 10 per cent quota to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS).