NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday decided to bring its courtroom proceedings under public glare by agreeing to live-streaming of court functioning, paving the way for people to watch the courtroom drama live as it unfolds.In a giant step to inject transparency and accountability in judicial functioning, a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Mishra , Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud said that live-streaming of court proceedings is manifestly in public interest and it will help bring the work of the judiciary to the lives of citizens.The pilot project for live-streaming would be initiated from the apex court and would be later on extended to high courts and lower courts. To begin with, only a specified category of cases or cases of constitutional and national importance being argued before the Constitution bench would be be live streamed as a pilot project but mechanism would be set up in all courtrooms for live streaming of proceedings of all courts.The bench asked the Supreme Court to frame rules for permitting live broadcasting of proceedings and to put in place equipments including cameras in courtrooms. The court framed a guidelines on live-streaming and said that cases pertaining to sexual offence and matrimonial disputes be excluded. In a separate but concurring verdict, Justices Khanwilkar and Chandrachud said that many developed countries have allowed live-streaming of court proceedings and judiciary in India should adopt it to enable people to have first hand experience of proceedings."Live-streaming of courtroom proceedings will reduce the public's reliance on second-hand narratives to obtain information about important judgments of the Court and the course of judicial hearings. Society will be able to view court proceedings first hand and form reasoned and educated opinions about the functioning of courts. This will help reduce misinformation and misunderstanding about the judicial process. It will enhance the rule of law and promote better understanding of legal governance as part of the functioning of democracy ," the bench said.The court said that live-streaming would remove physical barriers to viewing court proceedings by enabling the public to view proceedings from outside courtroom premises and it will also reduce the need for litigants to travel to the courts to observe the proceedings of their cases."Live-streaming is a significant instrument of enhancing the accountability of judicial institutions and of all those who participate in the judicial process. Delay in the dispensation of justice is a matter of serious concern. Live-streaming of court proceedings will enable members of the public to know of the causes of adjournments and the reasons why hearings are delayed,""Above all, sunlight is the best disinfectant. Live-streaming as an extension of the principle of open courts will ensure that the interface between a court hearing with virtual reality will result in the dissemination of information in the widest possible sense, imparting transparency and accountability to the judicial process," Justice Chandrachud said.Libe streaming of court proceedings is permitted in various countries including in UK, South Africa, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil . Germany, and China. The US Supreme Court does not permit video recording or photography of its proceedings. It releases audio transcripts of the oral arguments on the same day.