A petition has been filed in the Allahabad High Court seeking directions for live-streaming and live-reporting of court proceedings across Uttar Pradesh, including in High Courts, subordinate courts and tribunals.
The plea, moved by legal reporters Areeb Uddin and Sparsh Upadhyay and three law students, through Advocates Shashwat Anand and others, stated that access to court proceedings has been extremely restricted for legal journalists and law students due to virtual hearings being conducted amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The petition said live-streaming and live-reporting of court proceedings will restore such access and harmonize VC hearings with the 'open justice' principle.
"The fundamental right to Freedom of the Press, of the petitioners -as journalists/mediapersons - is well-settled in the day to gain access to VC or physical hearings and report the same as they occur, as the same is an implicit aspect of Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution," the petition said.
