CJI Ramana 'actively considering' live telecast of SC proceedings amid COVID-19

Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on Thursday considered the proposal to telecast live proceedings of the Supreme Court in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis which has also affected the functioning of the judiciary as several judges, lawyers and staff have also been infected by COVID-19, while many losing lives. Justice Ramana sought the opinions of his colleagues "before initiating concrete steps in this regard".

"I am also actively considering the proposal to live telecast the proceedings of the Supreme Court. However, before initiating concrete steps in this regard, I plan to seek general consensus among my colleagues in the Court," the Chief Justice said.

The CJI said that the pandemic has affected everyone while further adding that approximately 800 Registry staff have tested positive and the Top Court has lost three of its officials to COVID-19 infection so far.

"So far as the Indian judiciary is concerned, as per the data available, 2768 judicial officers and 106 Judges of the High Court have tested positive. We are yet to receive the data from two major High Courts. 34 Judicial Officers and three Judges of the High Court have lost their life, battling this pandemic," the Chief Justice said.

"My heart goes out to the families and the loved ones of those whose life has been cut short by this pandemic. Everyone has been deeply affected by this pandemic, including my brother and sister Judges in the Supreme Court. The Secretary-General, the Registrars, most of the staff of the Supreme Court and their families have suffered. Apart from the physical impact of this pandemic, the psychological and mental strain has been terrible. Despite this demoralizing and fear-inducing environment, everyone is rendering service to their best capacity, to ensure that justice continues to be rendered," he added.

CJI Ramana also spoke about the media personnel facing hardships in their profession amid the COVID-19 crisis while reminiscing his days as a journalist. He also launched a facility for granting access to media on the Supreme Court application and urged the media to use these resources responsibly while disseminating information for the welfare of society. This development was in the backdrop of a request to create a mechanism so that journalists could attend the hearings without going to courts during the pandemic.

"I was a journalist for a brief time. At that time we did not have cars or bikes. We used to travel in a bus as we were directed not to avail conveyance of organisers of the event," he said.

(With ANI inputs)