The Supreme Court on Tuesday observed that the live streaming of proceedings has taken the top court to the homes and hearts of common citizens. The top court made the observation as it resumed the hearing on same-sex marriage pleas for the eighth day on Tuesday.
The five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said that the court was also trying to use technology to ensure the live-streamed content is made available simultaneously in languages other than English so more people can follow. The bench also includes Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Justice Ravindra Bhat, Justice Hima Kohli, and Justice PS Narasimha.
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Calling it a “fallout of the proceedings”, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for Madhya Pradesh, said that there is a churning in society, and because of this debate and live streaming in different corners of the country, people were thinking about the issue.
"The live-streaming of court proceedings has really taken our court absolutely to the homes and to the hearts of the common citizens and I think that is part of the process," the bench noted.
Dwivedi said the only hindrance is that arguments in the court happen in English, a language most people residing in villages don't understand. To this, CJI said, "You will be surprised that we are working even on that also, Mr Dwivedi. Even that is not lost on the Supreme Court on its administrative side."
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"We are working on it, the transcripts which you have there, we are now trying to use technology to ensure that the live streaming contents can be simultaneously made available in languages which the citizens can follow," Chief Justice Chandrachud said.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who is representing 'Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind' in the matter, said technology now allows what a person is speaking in English to be heard in different languages including Japanese.
Last week, the Centre told the top court it will constitute a committee headed by the cabinet secretary to examine administrative steps that could be taken for addressing "genuine humane concerns" of same-sex couples without going into the issue of legalising their marriage.
The Centre's submission came pursuant to the Supreme Court asking it on April 27 whether social welfare benefits like opening joint bank accounts, nominating life partner in provident funds, gratuity and pension schemes can be granted to same-sex couples without going into the issue of legal sanction to their marriage.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the government, had told the bench on the previous day of the hearing, May 3, that there were discussions at the previous hearing about some genuine humane concerns of such couples and whether something can be done to address those administratively.
Last month, the Supreme Court began the crucial hearing on a clutch of petitions filed by 18 LGBTQIA++ couples for marriage equality rights. The hearing has been going on for three weeks now with several arguments regarding marriage being a bouquet of rights and gender being far more complex in a marriage than between a cis-gendered heterosexual man with a cis-gendered heterosexual woman.
