SC dismisses plea seeking live streaming of Ayodhya dispute case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned down former BJP leader and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideologue K.N. Govindacharya's plea seeking live streaming or audio/video recording of the day-to-day proceedings in the Ayodhya dispute case saying it was not feasible now

In his plea moved on Saturday, Govindacharya had requested a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi for live streaming of the Ayodhya case proceedings, which began today.

The plea cited the Supreme Court's September 2018 judgement which ruled that SC proceedings must be live streamed. It said that despite around a year having gone by, the implementation of the SC ruling in the matter was yet to take place.

Govindacharya, in his petition, said: "This case is a matter of national importance. There are crores of persons, including the petitioner, who want to witness proceedings before this court, but cannot do the same due to the present norms of the Supreme Court."

"If live streaming is not feasible as of now, then the proceedings can be recorded on audio or video by the court officers and transcripts of the court proceedings can be released on the top court website later on," the plea said.

He said that people were desperate for early justice in the Ram Temple matter, wherein Lord Ram was kept in a makeshift tent for the past many years.

"This matter has been pending in the Supreme Court for the last nine years, and the public at large is interested in knowing the reasons behind the delay in deciding the cases," the petitioner further added.

Govindacharya said as a digital super power, India had the means to arrange for live streaming of the Ayodhya matter.