Teesha
A Petition has been moved in the Allahabad High Court seeking directions for streaming of court’s proceedings and allowing journalists access to courts both physically and virtually in order to report the same.
The Plea has been moved by legal reporters Areeb Uddin (Bar & Bench) and Sparsh Upadhyay (Livelaw) through Advocates Shashwat Anand and Mohd Kumail Haider.
The Petitioners sought appointment of a High Powered Committee headed by a sitting retired Judge(s) of Allahabad High Court and a panel of experts to function out and provide appropriate recommendations for the live streaming or telecast of the proceedings and to further provide easy access to media persons.
While invoking the fundamental right to press inculcated under freedom of speech and expression the plea stated “The said right corresponds with the people’s right to know and to access justice and the all-encompassing dignity of the populace,”
Highlighting the dedicated media room of the Supreme Court and the Gujarat High Court, the petition urged for a similar setup to be established in the Allahabad High Court to ensure that all people are able to view the virtual and physical proceedings of cases.
They also pleaded that links for hearing to be sent to those media persons who are registered with the database of the High Court.
The petitioners apprised that the concept of justice would truly be realised only when the environment has absolute transparency as per the meaning of ‘open court’ as discussed in Article 145(4) of the Constitution of India, Sections 153B of the Code of Civil Procedure and 327 of Code of Criminal Procedure.
The petition was filed considering the restricted access to the court proceedings amidst COVID-19 pandemic to the media personnel which is crucial to maintain transparency in the judicial system.
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