Justice Surya Kant also pointed to the uneven infrastructure across courts in India, noting that digital adoption remains limited in many rural and semi-urban jurisdictions.
New Delhi : India’s newly appointed Chief Justice, Surya Kant, has outlined an ambitious vision for transforming the country’s overburdened judiciary through extensive use of technology, including artificial intelligence (AI), as courts continue to struggle with more than five crore pending cases nationwide. In a recent address, the Chief Justice described the court system’s mounting delays as a 'critical structural challenge' that demands a modern, technology-enabled response rather than incremental adjustments.
Justice Surya Kant emphasised that the true potential of judicial reform lies in adopting digital solutions that can streamline workflow, reduce administrative burden, and improve efficiency across all levels of the judiciary. He highlighted that several trial courts and high courts have already made progress with e-filing, virtual hearings, and digital documentation, but these steps must now evolve into a fully integrated judicial ecosystem. According to him, tasks such as transcription of proceedings, sorting of case documents, and legal research could be handled far more efficiently with AI-assisted tools, helping judges save significant time and focus on substantive legal reasoning.
At the same time, he made it clear that technology must play a supportive, not decisive, role in dispensing justice. Algorithms, he said, can process information faster, but they cannot replicate human empathy, moral judgment, or the ability to understand social and emotional context — elements that lie at the heart of fair judicial decision-making. The objective, therefore, is not to replace judges with machines but to equip them with better tools to do their work with greater clarity and speed.
Justice Surya Kant also pointed to the uneven infrastructure across courts in India, noting that digital adoption remains limited in many rural and semi-urban jurisdictions. He urged state governments, court administrations, and the Centre to work together to upgrade digital infrastructure, increase training for court staff, and ensure that litigants across the country have equal access to technology-enabled justice.
He further observed that the massive backlog could not be resolved without systematic changes — including improved case management, faster disposal of procedural matters, and the use of data analytics to identify bottlenecks and allocate resources more effectively. According to him, the judiciary must now think of justice delivery in terms of speed, accessibility, and transparency, all of which require embracing technological innovation rather than resisting it.
In setting this reformist tone so early in his tenure, Justice Surya Kant has signalled that the coming years may witness one of the most significant technology-driven transformations in the Indian judiciary. Whether these reforms are implemented swiftly and uniformly across the country will determine how effectively the justice system can respond to its most pressing challenge: ensuring timely and fair access to justice for millions of Indian citizens.
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| Chief Justice, Surya Kant. File Photo. |
New Delhi : India’s newly appointed Chief Justice, Surya Kant, has outlined an ambitious vision for transforming the country’s overburdened judiciary through extensive use of technology, including artificial intelligence (AI), as courts continue to struggle with more than five crore pending cases nationwide. In a recent address, the Chief Justice described the court system’s mounting delays as a 'critical structural challenge' that demands a modern, technology-enabled response rather than incremental adjustments.
Justice Surya Kant emphasised that the true potential of judicial reform lies in adopting digital solutions that can streamline workflow, reduce administrative burden, and improve efficiency across all levels of the judiciary. He highlighted that several trial courts and high courts have already made progress with e-filing, virtual hearings, and digital documentation, but these steps must now evolve into a fully integrated judicial ecosystem. According to him, tasks such as transcription of proceedings, sorting of case documents, and legal research could be handled far more efficiently with AI-assisted tools, helping judges save significant time and focus on substantive legal reasoning.
At the same time, he made it clear that technology must play a supportive, not decisive, role in dispensing justice. Algorithms, he said, can process information faster, but they cannot replicate human empathy, moral judgment, or the ability to understand social and emotional context — elements that lie at the heart of fair judicial decision-making. The objective, therefore, is not to replace judges with machines but to equip them with better tools to do their work with greater clarity and speed.
Justice Surya Kant also pointed to the uneven infrastructure across courts in India, noting that digital adoption remains limited in many rural and semi-urban jurisdictions. He urged state governments, court administrations, and the Centre to work together to upgrade digital infrastructure, increase training for court staff, and ensure that litigants across the country have equal access to technology-enabled justice.
He further observed that the massive backlog could not be resolved without systematic changes — including improved case management, faster disposal of procedural matters, and the use of data analytics to identify bottlenecks and allocate resources more effectively. According to him, the judiciary must now think of justice delivery in terms of speed, accessibility, and transparency, all of which require embracing technological innovation rather than resisting it.
In setting this reformist tone so early in his tenure, Justice Surya Kant has signalled that the coming years may witness one of the most significant technology-driven transformations in the Indian judiciary. Whether these reforms are implemented swiftly and uniformly across the country will determine how effectively the justice system can respond to its most pressing challenge: ensuring timely and fair access to justice for millions of Indian citizens.
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