In A First, Kerala High Court Live Streams Hearing In Special Sitting On Saturday

In a first, the Kerala High Court started live streaming its proceedings on YouTube today.

The Bench of Justice Anil K Narendran and Justice PG Ajithkumar held a special sitting today to hear some cases, including a plea challenging the requirement that only Malayali Brahmins can be appointed as the head priest of the Sabarimala Temple.

The hearing was streamed live on the official YouTube Channel of the High Court. The High Court is presently holding a hybrid mode of hearing, where lawyers are permitted to appear both physically and virtually, like in the Supreme Court.

Today's hearing, though it commenced at 10.30 am, the live streaming commenced later in the day. The High Court uses Google Meet, Zoom and an indigenous platform, Vconsol for virtual hearings. Different courts use these different platforms.

The hearing today commenced on Google Meet and was later shifted to Zoom to facilitate live streaming. It is learned that the petitioners in the case had made a request for live streaming of the hearing.

The Supreme Court is presently live-streaming only its Constitution Bench hearings. The Gujarat High Court, Karnataka High Court, Orissa High Court, Madhya Pradesh High Court and the Patna High Court are also live-steaming their proceedings on YouTube.

The proceedings can be viewed by clicking on the embedded video or here.