ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court office has returned a petition seeking direction for live-streaming or broadcast of the hearings of suo motu cases or other public important matters under Article 184(3) of the Constitution.

The petition was moved by a senior member of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), Raheel Kamran Sheikh, on March 9 but the registrar office of the apex court returned the petition along with original paper books for not being entertainable.

The reasons cited by the registrar office while returning the petitions was that the petitioner directly approached the apex court instead of moving it first before any other appropriate forum available to him under the law for the same relief. Moreover, the petitioner has also failed to provide any justification for directly filing the petition in the Supreme Court.

The petition argued that any blanket ban or prohibition on the live-streaming of proceedings in the Supreme Court should be declared as arbitrary and discriminatory besides being violative of the fundamental rights of citizens, including the right of access to justice, the right to information and the right to fair trial and due process.

The petition asked for directions by the apex court to extend full cooperation regarding infrastructural and other facilities for ensuring live-streaming/broadcasting and framing guidelines for the exercise of these rights.

The respondents in the petition were the federal government through secretaries of law, information, Pakistan Electronic Medial Regulatory Authority (Pemra) and the registrar of the Supreme Court.

The petition emphasised that live-streaming would enhance the rule of law and promote better understanding of legal governance as part of the functioning of democracy.

Moreover, this would also reinforce the rule of law, ensure the upholding of the principle of open, transparent and accessible justice, uphold the legitimacy and effectiveness of the court and enhance public confidence in the institution of the judiciary, the petition said.

The petition also raised a plea that the registrar of the apex court should place guidelines, to be laid by the court by amending the Supreme Court Rules, before the full court meeting of all judges.

The petition pleaded that Article 19A of the Constitution guarantees the right to information in all matters of public importance and such a fundamental right was only subject to reasonable restrictions imposed by law.

Neither any restriction could be imposed by law while prohibiting live-streaming of the Supreme Court proceedings nor can any law imposing blanket prohibition withstand the test of constitutional validity after enactment of Article 19A of the Constitution, particularly in matters involving public importance, such as those brought before the court under Article 184 of the Constitution.

The right to information under Article 19A of the Constitution cannot be realised to the extent of judicial proceedings in the most interactive and educationally wholesome manner unless proceedings of this court are made available beyond the physical confines of the courtroom, the petition highlighted. The petition reminded that the apex court in the 2012 Watan Party case had held that access to information was a justiciable right of the people, rather than being largesse bestowed by the State at its whim.

Since no person can be heard to plead ignorance of law, there is corresponding obligation on the State to spread awareness about the law and the developments, including the evolution of the law, which may happen in the process of adjudication of cases before this court, the petition argued. Thus, the provision of information in matters of public importance becomes a duty — the discharge of which must be ensured by the apex court in its role as the guardian of the rights of the people of Pakistan.

Under Article 19A, a live broadcasting of court’s proceedings can be made subject to a regulatory framework adopted in the Supreme Court Rules or through law enacted, the petition suggested. Any blanket ban or prohibition on the live-streaming of the proceedings in the Supreme Court is arbitrary and discriminatory besides being violative of the fundamental rights of the citizens, including the right of access to justice, the right to information and the right to fair trial and due process.

Thus, the absolute prohibition imposed by the Registrar of the Supreme Court to carry mobile phones, pagers and cameras, etc., in courtrooms is also manifestly arbitrary and discriminatory, and, therefore, violative of Articles 4 and 25 of the Constitution, the petition emphasised.

The wider availability of information relating to the proceedings of the courtroom, to be realised through a real-time broadcast, is a sine qua non (absolutely necessary) for the effective manifestation of the citizen’s right to access justice — a fundamental right of the citizens of Pakistan, flowing from Article 9 of the Constitution.

The live-streaming of the proceedings in all matters of public importance will also guarantee that in no case, the fundamental right to fair trial and due process, as embodied in Article 10A of the Constitution, is violated.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2019