Supreme Court

J0udgements

SEPTEMBER 2022
JUDICIAL REFORMS
Live Streaming of SC
proceedings: the rationale
and the concerns
Polity | GS2: Executive & Judiciary
Note4Students | From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level : NA
Mains level : Live streaming of courts proceedings
From September 27 onward, all proceedings of
Supreme Court Constitution Benches will be
live-streamed, a full court meeting of the top
court has decided.
Background of the move
• H istory was made on August 26 (2022)
when the proceedings from the Chief Justices
Court in the Supreme Court (SC) were
live streamed.
• In the Swapnil Tripathi judgment, in
September 2018, the SC had cleared the deck
for live streaming of cases of national and
constitutional importance.
Immediate triggers for live streaming
• They had agreed to hear a public interest
litigation seeking live streaming of judicial
proceedings on matters of constitutional
and national importance.
• P rime considerations cited are:
1. De-congestion of courts and
2. Improving physical access to courts
for litigants who have to otherwise travel
long distances
Recommended by A-G
• The Supreme Court approved a set of
guidelines suggested by the A-G, which
included allowing transcripts and archiving
the proceedings.
• H owever, the A-G suggested that the
court must retain the power to withhold
broadcasting, and to also NOT permit it in
cases involving:
• M atrimonial matters,
• M atters involving interests of juveniles or the
protection and safety of the private life of the
young offenders,
• M atters of National security,

• T o ensure that victims, witnesses or
defendants can depose truthfully and
without any fear.
• To protect confidential or sensitive
information, including all matters relating to
sexual assault and rape,
• M atters where publicity would be antithetical
to the administration of justice, and
• C ases which may provoke sentiments and
arouse passion and provoke enmity among
communities.
Live streaming in HCs
• F ollowing the SCs decision, Gujarat High
Court began live streaming its proceedings in
July 2021.
• C urrently, the Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya
Pradesh, Orissa, and Patna High Courts live
stream their proceedings.
• Allahabad High Court is learnt to be
considering doing the same.
Global examples of live streaming
• U
 nited States of America: While the US
Supreme Court has rejected pleas for
broadcast of its proceedings, it has since 1955
allowed audio recording and transcripts of
oral arguments.
• U
 nited Kingdom: In 2005, the law was
amended to remove contempt of court
charges for recording proceedings of the
Supreme Court.
Why need live streaming of court?
• I mproved accountability: Live-streaming
of court proceedings would serve as an
instrument for greater accountability
and formed part of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1973.
• L iving up the expectation of Constitution:
Live Streaming of Court proceedings is
manifested in public interest. Public interest
has always been preserved through the
Constitution article 19 and 21
• E mpowering the masses: It will enable the
legal system to deliver on its promise of
empowering the masses.
• M
 ore transparency: It will encourage
the principle of open court and reduce
dependence on second-hand views. It will
effectuate the publics right to know.
• T
 his would inspire confidence in the
functioning of the judiciary as an institution
and help maintain the respect that it
deserved as a co-equal organ of the state.
• Academic help: Live streaming may also be
a help for academic purposes.
Concerns around live streaming
• Contempt of court: Video clips of
proceedings from Indian courts are already
on YouTube and other social media platforms
with sensational titles and little context,
such as HIGH COURT super angry on
army officer.
• Disinformation and sensationalism: There
are fears that irresponsible or motivated
use of content could spread disinformation
among the public.
• Unnecessary activism: With the advent
of social media, every citizen became a
potential journalist. Study shows that justices
behave like politicians when given free
television time, they act to maximize their
individual exposure.
Issues to judicial functioning
• Decency of questions: During hearings
judges may not ask questions or make
comments that could be perceived as
unpopular.
• Triggers for oral observations: There is
an increasing trend of oral observations of
the court, which are not binding on parties
replacing reasoned judgment and orders that
are consequential.
• Dignity of court may be compromised:
Similarly, lawyers, aware of their new
audience, may choose to grandstand and
play to the gallery, especially in a case they
expect to lose.
Way forward
• Selective broadcast: The solution may
lie in carefully determining how the live
streaming proceeds.
• Careful selection of cases: Not uploading
archived stream on the SC website until it is
legally/technologically possible to ensure that
such videos cannot be spliced.
• Understanding public perception and
sentiments: Other similar measures that
reflect an understanding of how the public
consumes (dis)information will ensure that
live streaming enriches constitutionalism
across the country.
Conclusion
• A hasty and wholesale introduction on
the other hand is likely to land the SC
right in the middle of the majoritarian and
toxic information swamp that prevails in
the country.
MOTHER AND CHILD HEALTH - IMMUNIZATION PROGRAM, BPBB, PMJSY, PMMSY, ETC.
All women have Right to
Legal and Safe Abortion:
Supreme Court
Polity | GS2: Indian Constitution - historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments,
significant provisions and basic structure
Note4Students | From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level : MRTP Act
Mains level : Abortion rights debate
The Supreme Court has held that all women,
irrespective of their marital status, are entitled
to safe and legal abortion till 24 weeks of
pregnancy under the Medical Termination of
Pregnancy (MTP) Act.
A case for safe abortion
• A Bench led by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud was
hearing the appeal of a woman who wanted
to abort her 24-week pregnancy after her
relationship failed and her partner left her.
• The lower court had taken an unduly
restrictive view that her plea for a safe
abortion was not covered under the Medical
Termination of Pregnancy Act.
• This was since the pregnancy arose from a
consensual relationship outside wedlock.
What was the last amendment?
• The court noted that an amendment to
the Act in 2021 had substituted the term
husband with partner, a clear signal that
the law covered unmarried women within
its ambit.
Reiterating the live-in recognition
• C hastising the lower court, the Bench
said live-in relationships had already been
recognised by the Supreme Court.
• There were a significant number of people
in social mainstream who see no wrong in
engaging in pre-marital sex.
• The law could not be used to quench notions
of social morality and unduly interfere in
their personal autonomy and bodily integrity.
About Medical Termination of Pregnancy
(MTP) Act
• Abortion in India has been a legal right
under various circumstances for the last
50 years since the introduction of the
Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP)
Act in 1971.
• The Act was amended in 2003 to
enable womens access to safe and legal
abortion services.
• Abortion is covered 100% by the
governments public national health insurance
funds, Ayushman Bharat and Employees
State Insurance with the package rate for
surgical abortion.
The idea of terminating your pregnancy
cannot originate by choice and is purely
circumstantial. There are four situations
under which a legal abortion is performed:
1. If continuation of the pregnancy poses
any risks to the life of the mother or
mental health
2. If the foetus has any severe abnormalities
3. If pregnancy occurred as a result of failure
of contraception (but this is only applicable to
married women)
4. If pregnancy is a result of sexual
assault or rape
The pregnancy can be terminated upto 24
weeks of gestational age after the opinion
of two registered medical practitioners
under these conditions
• If the woman is either a survivor of sexual
assault or rape or incest
• If she is a minor
• If her marital status has changed during the
ongoing pregnancy (i.e. either widowhood
or divorce)
• If she has major physical disabilities or is
mentally ill
• O n the grounds of foetal malformation
incompatible with life or if the child is born, it
would be seriously handicapped
• If the woman is in humanitarian settings or
disaster, or emergency situations as declared
by the government
These are the key changes that the Medical
Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment)
Act, 2021, has brought in:
1. The gestation limit for abortions has been
raised from the earlier ceiling of 20 weeks
to 24 weeks, but only for special categories
of pregnant women such as rape or incest
survivors. But this termination would need the
approval of two registered doctors.
2. All pregnancies up to 20 weeks require
one doctors approval. The earlier law, the
MTP Act 1971, required one doctors approval
for pregnancies upto 12 weeks and two doctors
for pregnancies between 12 and 20 weeks.
3. Women can now terminate unwanted
pregnancies caused by contraceptive failure,
regardless of their marital status. Earlier the law
specified that only a married woman and her
husband could do this.
4. There is also no upper gestation limit
for abortion in case of foetal disability if
so decided by a medical board of specialist
doctors, which state governments and union
territories administrations would set up.
Criticism of Abortion
• Foetuses feel the pain: If the foetus is
beyond 20 weeks of gestation, gynaecs
assume that there will be pain caused to
the foetus.
• Abortions cause psychological damage:
Young adult women who undergo abortion
may be at increased risk for subsequent
depression.
• Abortions reduce the number of adoptable
babies: Instead of having the option to
abort, women should give their unwanted
babies to people who cannot conceive.
Single parenthood is also gaining popularity
in the US.
• Cases of selective abortion: Such cases
based on physical and genetic abnormalities
(eugenic termination) is overt discrimination.
• Abortion as a form of contraception:
It is immoral to kill an unborn child for
convenience. Many women are using
abortion as a contraceptive method.
• Morality put to question: If women
become pregnant, they should accept the
responsibility that comes with producing a
child. People need to take responsibility for
their actions and accept the consequences.
• Abortion promotes throwaway culture: The
legalization of abortion sends a message that
human life has little value and promotes the
throwaway culture.
Arguments in favour for Abortion Rights
• Upholding individual conscience and
decision-making: The US Supreme Court
has declared abortion to be a fundamental
right guaranteed by the US Constitution.
• Reproductive choice empowers women:
The choice over when and whether to
have children is central to a womans
independence and ability to determine
her future.
• Foetal viability occurs post-birth:
Personhood begins after a foetus becomes
viable (able to survive outside the womb) or
after birth, not at conception. Abortion is the
termination of a pregnancy, not a baby.
• No proof of foetal pain: Most neuroscientists
believe that the cortex is necessary for pain
perception. The cortex does not become
functional until at least the 26th week of a
foetus development.
• Preventing illegal abortions: Access to legal,
professionally-performed abortions reduces
maternal injury and death caused by unsafe,
illegal abortions.
• Mothers health: Modern abortion
procedures are safe and do not cause lasting
health issues such as cancer and infertility.
• Childs health: Abortion gives pregnant
women the option to choose not to bring
fetuses with profound abnormalities to
full term.
• P
 revents womens exclusion: Women who
are denied abortions are more likely to
become unemployed, to be on public welfare,
to be below the poverty line, and to become
victims of domestic violence.
• R eproductive choice protects women from
financial disadvantage: Many women who
choose abortion dont have the financial
resources to support a child.
• J ustified means of population control:
Many defends abortion as a way to curb
overpopulation. Malnutrition, starvation,
poverty, lack of medical and educational
services, pollution, underdevelopment, and
conflict over resources are all consequences
of overpopulation.
Conclusion
• Hence it is now established that the right to
abortion is a legal right of all women.