The Madhya Pradesh High Court has issued a notice to the state government, questioning the continued absence of live telecasts of the State Legislative Assembly proceedings. The notice was issued on Thursday by a division bench of Justices Vivek Rusia and Gajendra Singh at the Indore Bench, in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Congress MLAs Sachin Yadav and Pratap Grewal.
The Court has directed the state government to file its reply within four weeks. The matter is scheduled to be heard next on June 16.
The petitioners have raised concerns regarding the lack of transparency and public access to legislative debates and discussions, despite the availability of central government funding and policy directives aimed at digitizing state legislatures.
Jayesh Gurnani, counsel for the petitioners, informed the Court that under the Centre’s ‘National e-Vidhan Application’ (NeVA), all state legislative bodies are to be transformed into “digital houses.” The Union Government has already sanctioned ₹21 crore for this initiative in Madhya Pradesh.
“Despite this allocation, the state has failed to initiate live telecasts of Assembly sessions, which denies citizens the opportunity to observe the performance and issues raised by their elected representatives,” Gurnani argued.
The PIL contends that the non-implementation of live streaming under the NeVA scheme undermines transparency and accountability in governance. The High Court will assess the state’s explanation in the upcoming hearing.
