Actively considering live telecast of SC proceedings: CJI

New Delhi, May 13 (PTI):
Chief Justice NV Ramana Thursday said he was actively considering the proposal to live telecast the proceedings of the Supreme Court.
The CJI, however, said before initiating concrete steps in this regard, he would seek general consensus among his colleagues in the top court.
Ramana was speaking at the launch of application for granting access of virtual proceedings of the Supreme Court to media persons. Recalling his days as a journalist, the CJI said media faces great challenges in reporting and came to know that journalists were depending on advocates to get links to cover court proceedings.
Thus there was request to create a mechanism so that press could attend the hearings, he said.
“I was a journalist for a brief time. That time we did not have car or bikes. We used to travel on bus as we were directed not to avail conveyance of organisers of the event, he said.
Urging the media to use the resources (app) responsibly and follow all covid protocols, the CJI said technology, particularly one that is newly developed, is sensitive and might be subject to some flaws in the early days of its use.
“Small issues are bound to arise, which should not be unnecessarily magnified. I request everyone to be patient, to be encouraging and supportive to the technical team to ensure that the application works without any problems. I hope that everyone gives the system the requisite time to evolve and expand.
“Additionally, I would like to also highlight another feature we are introducing on the official website and mobile application of the Supreme Court. This new feature, called Indicative Notes is aimed at providing concise summaries of landmark judgments in an easy-to-understand format. This will serve as a useful resource for media persons and the general public who wish to be better informed about the rulings of the Court,” he said.
With regard to granting accreditation to media persons, Justice Ramana said he has given directions to further rationalise the policy and he was contemplating to appoint a senior officer to be a single point of contact between the Supreme Court and the media. He thanked the apex court Registry, and the entire technical team, for all their efforts in developing this application and instituting the Indicative Notes feature in such a short time. Justice Ramana said this pandemic has affected everyone and shared that as per the data available, 2768 judicial officers and 106 Judges of the High Court have tested positive.