NEW DELHI: Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant has strongly asserted that artificial intelligence (AI) can serve as a valuable tool to support research and streamline judicial processes, but it can never replace the legal acumen and decision-making authority of human judges.
Speaking at the plenary session of the 7th Congress of the Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, the CJI emphasized that technology must be harnessed primarily to expand access to justice. However, he cautioned that its deployment must be carefully managed to ensure it does not exclude vulnerable citizens or erode public trust in the judicial system.
Highlighting the Supreme Court of India's proactive stance on technological integration, Justice Kant pointed to the draft regulations released by the apex court's AI committee. Grounded in the core principle of human primacy, these regulations explicitly state that artificial intelligence may only supplement judicial research and administrative workflows, leaving core legal reasoning strictly in human hands.
During another address on the theme "Digitising Justice: Charting the Supreme Court of India's Course," the CJI underscored that digitization efforts must always remain deeply anchored in constitutional guarantees of liberty, equality, and fundamental rights. Rather than merely computerizing existing procedures, India’s technological approach focuses on re-engineering the judicial ecosystem around the needs of the common citizen.
Detailing India's digital transformation in the judiciary, the CJI cited electronic filing, virtual hearings, digital case management, and the live-streaming of Constitution Bench proceedings as vital tools that tear down geographical and financial barriers. He noted that the eCourts Mission Mode Project proved exceptionally crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the Supreme Court alone handling over 750,000 video-conferencing hearings between March 2020 and June 2024.
Addressing linguistic barriers, Justice Kant highlighted initiatives like SUVAS (an AI-assisted translation tool that has published over 83,000 translations across 18 Indian languages) and Su-Sahayak (an AI-powered chatbot offering instant case updates and e-services). Furthermore, he introduced the upcoming "One Case, One Data" initiative, designed to seamlessly integrate case records across different tiers of the judiciary to eliminate duplication and accelerate justice delivery.
Concluding his address, the CJI acknowledged that the path forward is not without hurdles, noting that challenges such as the digital divide, data security, and algorithmic accountability require constant vigilance and international cooperation among Asian constitutional courts.
