The Supreme Court of India is moving forward with plans to begin live-streaming regular hearings across all benches.

Today, a test run of the live-streaming was conducted, allowing public access to the proceedings.

This trial was facilitated through the Court's own application, rather than its official YouTube channel. Until now, live-streaming has primarily been reserved for constitution bench matters and cases of significant public interest. Recently, the Court also live-streamed hearings in the NEET-UG case and the RG Kar suo motu matter due to their relevance to the public.

An official launch date for the live-streaming of regular hearings has yet to be announced.

This initiative follows the Supreme Court's landmark 2018 judgment in Swapnil Tripathi v. Supreme Court of India, which paved the way for virtual access to courtroom proceedings. The Court directed that live streaming be conducted for cases of constitutional and national importance, while excluding those involving juveniles, sexual assault, and matrimonial disputes.

The first case ever to be live-streamed was the challenge to the EWS quota (related to the 103rd Constitution Amendment) in 2022. With the current initiative to stream regular bench hearings, the public will gain unprecedented access to observe the Court's proceedings on routine matters.

Following the Supreme Court's lead, various High Courts have also begun live-streaming their court sessions, with the Gujarat High Court being the first to adopt this practice.

The live-streaming initiative aims to uphold the principle of open courts, enhancing the public's right to know and fostering greater transparency in judicial processes