The Supreme Court of India has been streaming its constitution bench proceedings online since September 2022 to increase public access and transparency.
The Chief Justice of India, Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, recently announced that the court is working on a module to provide transcripts of the hearings simultaneously in various regional languages. At present, transcripts are prepared only in English, making it difficult for people in villages and small towns who do not understand English to follow the proceedings. Senior counsel Rakesh Dwivedi mentioned that live-streaming of the same-sex marriage proceedings has created a buzz in society, but the language problem in India is complex. However, the CJI assured that the Supreme Court is working on providing live-streaming content in other languages too.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal pointed out that technology now allows not only the transcripts to be made available in several languages, but the proceedings can also be heard simultaneously in different languages. The Supreme Court had declared live telecast of court proceedings part of the right to access justice under Article 21 of the Constitution in September 2018, and subsequently introduced model guidelines to regulate live-streaming of court proceedings in India.
In February 22, the court introduced live transcription of court proceedings for the first time in India, using artificial intelligence and high-tech tools to create a great record for the top court to have.