The Supreme Court on Friday said that a petition seeking live telecast or recording of the proceedings in the Ayodhya land dispute case should be listed before a bench led by the Chief Justice of India, PTI reported. A five-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, is holding daily hearings in the case.

Former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologue KN Govindacharya had filed the petition, which came up before a bench of Justices RF Nariman and Surya Kant. After hearing the submission, the court said that the matter should be presented before Gogoi’s bench.

“Ayodhya hearing is sensitive. How can it be live streamed?” Live Law quoted Nariman as saying. “We are an open court but not to outsiders. It’s open only to litigants.”

Senior Advocate Vikas Singh, who is representing Govindacharya, told the bench that at least audio recording of the proceedings and transcription of arguments should be started.

In September 2018, the Supreme Court had allowed live streaming of court proceedings of cases of constitutional and national importance. The court had said openness was like “sunlight” which is the “best disinfectant”. Govindacharya, in his plea, highlighted this judgement and said that the right to know was a fundamental right and that an order should be passed for live streaming the hearings in the Ayodhya land dispute case.

“This case is a matter of national importance,” Govindacharya’s petition stated. “People were desperate for early justice in the Ram Temple matter, wherein Lord Ram was kept in a makeshift tent for the past many years.” It stated that the case had been pending in the Supreme Court for the last nine years and that the public was interested in understanding the delay in deciding the matter.

The petitioner also stated that the Constitution contained pictures of the deity, therefore the live streaming would fulfill “constitutional patriotism”, according to Live Law.

The petition also mentioned that the top court’s June 25, 2018, order that allowed journalists to carry mobile phones into hearings and said that an unofficial record of the proceedings were made through tweets. It asked why the court could not create a genuine official record of the proceedings.

The top court was conducting the hearings on miscellaneous days, including Friday and Monday, which showed that it was handling the Ayodhya dispute case extraordinarily so the audio recordings could begin immediately, the petitioner pointed out, according to PTI.

The Ayodhya dispute has been going on for several decades, with both Hindu and Muslim groups claiming their right to the land. The Babri Masjid stood there before it was demolished in 1992 by Hindutva activists.

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