Open justice: How Supreme Court took help of AI, other tech to ensure better access

Supreme Court

During his Red Fort address on India’s 77th Independence Day on August 15, 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud’s efforts to translate important judgments of the Supreme Court (SC) to regional languages.

Speaking at the flag-hoisting ceremony at the SC, the CJI said that, up to now, 9,423 judgments of the top court have been translated into regional languages.

This is not the only move by the SC to improve access to justice. Over the last two years, and under the aegis of four CJIs, it has introduced a slew of measures.

They include live-streaming of constitution bench cases, e-filing to reduce the use of paper, and electronic SC reports to ensure that judgments are accessed by all free of cost, easy access to the court through its portal and live transcription of arguments using artificial intelligence (AI).

“In the recent past, several steps have been taken to ensure easier access to justice and they have greatly benefited lawyers and litigants,” said Misha Rohatgi Mohta from the law chambers of Nakul Mohta and Misha Rohatgi Mohta.

What are these steps?

Virtual hearing

India’s SC is one of the first apex courts in the world to hold regular virtual hearings. Though it was introduced during the pandemic when Justice SA Bobde was the CJI, the move was the brainchild of DY Chandrachud, who continues to head the e-committee of the court.

The court continued hearing cases through the virtual mode even after the pandemic ended. DY Chandrachud improvised on virtual hearings and added more infrastructure in the court halls, so that the hearings could be conducted in a seamless manner.

Virtual hearings have improved the prospects of lawyers across the country as appearing in the apex court, which was at one point an expensive affair, could now be done at the click of a button.

Lawyers from outside Delhi say that the SC continuing to permit them to appear online through videoconferencing links has made the court more democratic and it must not be discontinued.

Not just lawyers, litigants who intend to participate in SC hearings can now log in to the court’s designated hearing as opposed to traveling all the way to Delhi.

“We have already seen the most important development in the form of virtual hearings in the SC. Now, no one can say that they don’t know what happens inside courtrooms,” said Sameer Jain, managing partner at PSL Advocates and Solicitors.

Suswagatham project

Earlier, litigants who wished to attend court hearings had to stand in a long queue outside the court to get security clearance. This process was more cumbersome on days when fresh cases were being heard.

Recently, the SC launched Suswagatham, a web portal through which litigants and lawyers can obtain entry passes.

Commenting on this, lawyer Ekta Rai said: “The Suswagatam portal will enable lawyers and litigants to apply for the entry pass online, saving not only the precious time of both lawyers as well as litigants but also significantly reducing crowd at the court premises early in the morning.”

Electronic Supreme Court Reports 

Launched in January 2023, the Electronic Supreme Court Reports (E-SCRs) provide free digital access to the official law reports of the apex court's reported judgments. This project enhances access to justice as a systemised version of SC judgments could earlier be accessed only through voluminous books or through paid services. The entire gamut of judgment of the apex court, starting from 1950, has now been digitised and made available for free.
A lawyer or a litigant wishing to read the judgment could access the same by visiting the SC website. “This facility reduces heavy costs incurred by lawyers in subscribing to various search engines. Another initiative of the SC is the neutral citation, which ensures easy accessibility of judgments, immediate publication and reduction of subscription barriers,”Misha Rohatgi Mohta said.

Translation of judgments

The SC started translating judgments into vernacular languages in 2019 when Ranjan Gogoi was the CJI. What started off as a small project eventually snowballed into a big one. Most of these judgments pertained to local laws in the state whose language it was translated into, and thus it came in handy to many.

In January 2023, the CJI appointed a committee led by Justice Abhay Oka to translate judgments to regional languages, thus ensuring that they are done at regular intervals.

“Judicial precedent stands as a crucial legal foundation in our nation. Numerous lawyers, especially those practising in trial courts, present their cases in native languages. Having access to a precedent in their mother tongue will strengthen their arguments,” said Kartik Yadav, Partner, DSK Legal.

Utsav Trivedi, Partner, TAS Law, noted that the introduction of regional languages/ translations of legal documents will not only allow common citizens to easily understand their rights and obligations, but also end the hegemony of a few select lawyers.

“Erasing regional barriers to the legal system will be a big step towards achieving the Bar and Bench’s decades-long strife – to promote meritocracy over favouritism in the profession,” he said.

Live-streaming and live transcription

In October 2022, when UU Lalit was the CJI, the SC decided to live-stream constitution bench hearings on YouTube. This was a big step as the hearings in the top court of the country came to be live-streamed for free to the entire nation. This was also the first time that many in the country saw how proceedings take place in the SC. Though the court chose to live-stream only constitution bench proceedings, CJI DY Chandrachud has hinted at extending it to all court proceedings, going forward.

Live transcription with the aid of AI was primarily used in commercial arbitrations abroad. However, the SC decided to introduce the same to its constitution bench proceedings. The court installed a monitor inside the court halls that transcribe the arguments of lawyers as they speak. These arguments are then uploaded to the apex court’s website.