In the case Pruthvirajsinh Zala v. High Court of Gujarat, a law student from Nirma University, appeared as a party in person and sought for open public access to virtual court hearings. Additionally the petitioner also demanded for virtual streaming of proceedings even when they are held in person.
The plea was heard on July 20th by the division bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice JB Pardiwala. The judges had appreciated the petitioner for bringing forth the matter in public interest and have taken the matter into consideration.
Although the plea was dismissed, a committee of two judges has been constituted to determine the technicalities of the same. Based on the report of the committee, the court shall proceed with making hearings public and accessible even to print, digital and electronic media entities.
The decision for constituting the committee was taken on the basis of Article 19 (1) (a) that also guarantees the right of the public to know the proceedings of matters of general concern.
Lawcutor 