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Supreme Court Mutes Livestream Audio (Img: pinterest)
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has issued directions that there would be no sound in the live audio-visual feed of the court while mentioning new matters before the Chief Justice of India (CJI).
This is in the wake of the recent observation by the CJI that the process of mentioning urgent matters is an administrative procedure and not a judicial one. It had been observed that such mentions could not be considered as part of a reportable hearing.
Under the present system, lawyers use the mentioning process to seek urgent listing of cases that need to be heard urgently. These cases include those of public importance and constitutional matters.
In the course of these hearings, the CJI decides if the matter needs to be listed urgently or not.
The recent direction of the Supreme Court distinguishes between the proceedings that take place in a courtroom and those made in administrative proceedings related to the management of the case.
In the last few months, oral observations made in such proceedings have often come into the limelight especially in politically charged and public interest cases.
The move is likely to have an impact on how proceedings are made in the first listing stage. No explanation has been given by the court regarding the latest move, but the move reflects the fact that case mentions are administrative proceedings and not judicial ones.
This development is yet another change in the policy of the Supreme Court towards live streaming.
