Supreme Court Not Using AI To Deliver Judgments: Law Minister

Chaitanya Kohlion 3 minute read
3 minute read
Supreme Court of India

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice, Arjun Ram Meghwal asserted in the Rajya Sabha on March 20 that the Supreme Court (SC) does not use Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Learning (ML) in its decision-making process.

The assertion was in response to a series of questions raised by Biju Janata Dal’s Debashish Samantaray in Rajya Sabha about the use of AI within the apex court. For context, he asked Meghwal whether:

a) The Supreme Court had begun using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) tools to assist in case management and decision-making;

b) The status of AI-driven tools like SUPACE (Supreme Court Portal for Assistance in Court’s Efficiency);

c) AI-based legal research and case prediction systems are being integrated into Court proceedings; and

d) The measures taken to ensure that AI-assisted tools enhance efficiency while maintaining judicial independence

Supreme Court Using AI And ML Tools For Case Management

In a point-wise response, Meghwal stated that India’s apex court is deploying AI and ML tools for transcribing oral arguments specifically in Constitution Bench matters

“The AI assisted transcribed arguments can be accessed from the website of the Supreme Court. The competent authority has directed to consider the transcribing of oral arguments on regular hearing days i.e. Thursdays,” said Meghwal.

He also remarked that the SC is using AI and ML tools for translation of judgments from English into Indian languages, in tandem with the National Informatics Centre (NIC).

“Supreme Court of India is also using AI and ML based tools in close coordination with National Informatics Centre (NIC), in translation of judgments from English language to 18 Indian languages viz., Assamese, Bengali, Garo, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Khasi, Konkani, Malayali, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Santali, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu,” he said.

“The judgments can be accessed through the eSCR portal of the Supreme Court of India,” Meghwal added.

Furthermore, he stated that around 200 lawyers got access to AI and ML tool prototypes developed with assistance from IIT Madras, so that the top court can gauge their feedback.

“The Registry of Supreme Court of India, in close coordination with IIT, Madras has developed and deployed AI and ML based tools integrated with the electronic filing software of the Registry in identification of defects.

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“Recently, the access of the prototype has been granted to 200 Advocates-on-Record to use the same and share their feedback, to strengthen the right to access to justice and right to administration of justice,” Meghwal remarked.

Supreme Court Not Using AI For Judgments: Why This Matters

However, the most significant revelation Meghwal made was that, at present, the nation’s top court has not resorted to using AI or ML in the deliberation process before pronouncing court judgments.

“As per the information provided by the Supreme Court of India, no AI and ML based tools are being used by the Supreme Court of India in the decision-making processes, as of now.

“However, the best industry practices have been adopted to maintain the data security and data integrity,” he said.

Furthermore, he highlighted that India’s apex court has no plans to introduce AI or ML-based prediction systems when it comes to court proceedings.

All this becomes important in light of recent cases of India’s judiciary utilising AI’s help in numerous aspects of the judicial system’s functioning.

More specifically, a tax tribunal order issued in December last year cited three SC and one Madras High Court judgments, which were non-existent.

Additionally, an SC judge earlier this month highlighted the fact that generative AI models could stumble while citing cases, and might even fabricate legal facts, issuing a stern warning against its rising use within the judicial setup in India.

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