AI also enters the Supreme Court, decisions will be translated in 18 languages

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) technologies have now been applied in the Supreme Court of India. AI has now been implemented with the aim of making the judicial process speedy and effective in the court. AI is being applied mainly in the preparation of written arguments, case filing, and translating law files. It is not being applied in the judicial decision-making process. The goal of the initiative is not just to make the work of the court speedy but also to support the judges in the process of legal research.

Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal informed the Rajya Sabha that oral arguments are being transcribed with the help of AI in the cases of the Constitution Bench in the Supreme Court. These transcripts are made available on the official website of the Supreme Court. Also, in collaboration with the National Informatics Centre (NIC), the Supreme Court Registry is using AI tools to translate judgments from English into 18 Indian languages. These languages ​​include Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Urdu, Gujarati, Kannada, Punjabi, Malayalam, Assamese, Odia, Nepali, Kashmiri, Konkani, Santali, Garo and Khasi.

The Supreme Court Registry has developed AI and ML-based prototype tools in collaboration with IIT Madras. These tools will be integrated with the Electronic Filing Module and Case Management Software (ICMIS). Also, about 200 advocates-on-record have been given access to these tools so that they can understand their impact and utility.

The government has clarified that AI will have no role in making judicial decisions. At present, it is being used only for transcription and translation during the hearing of the Constitution Bench. In the future, it is planned to adopt it during regular hearings as well.