Explainer: Now, you can watch Supreme Court live

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday has begun to live stream proceedings of its Constitution bences. The apex court is live-streaming proceedings through YouTube and later host them on its server]. People will be able to access the proceedings on their cell phones, laptops, and computers without any hassle.

The move comes four years after a decision to this effect was taken. The SC has decided to live-stream its proceedings of all constitution benches in a bid to enhance transparency and accessibility in its functioning.

The judgement
Four years ago on September 26, 2018, the bench of Chief Justice Dipak Mishra, and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud had taken a major leap in imparting transparency in the functioning of the judiciary by allowing live-streaming of court proceedings of cases of "constitutional and national importance".

The bench had said, this openness was like "sunlight" which is the "best disinfectant".

After a ceremonial telecast
On August 26, the Supreme Court, however, had 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.

YouTube, temporary platform
The proceedings could be seen on YouTube initially. The SC will have its own live-streaming "platform" in due course, said the CJI UU Lalit-led bench. The clarification came after former BJP leader KN Govindacharya's counsel argued that the copyright of the Supreme Court proceedings cannot be surrendered to private platforms.

Key constitution bench cases
The key constitutional bench cases to be live-streamed include the validity of the 10% EWS quota and the pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the Citizenship Amendment Act.

High courts, the leader
Live-streaming the proceedings has been started in the high courts of Gujarat, Orissa, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Patna and Madhya Pradesh, allowing media and other interested persons to join the proceedings.

Select countries
Live-streaming of court proceedings is permitted in countries such as the UK, South Africa, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Germany, and China.

The US Supreme Court does not permit video recording or photography of its proceedings. However, it releases audio transcripts of the oral arguments on the same day.