‘AI takes legal action’: Delhi gets first ‘pilot hybrid court’; here’s how it works | Delhi News

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Justice Manmohan stressed the importance of using technology to improve the justice system and expedite justice.

“Technology should be used to improve the justice system and reduce delays in justice,” Justice Manmohan said during the inauguration.

He further stressed the need for leveraging technology to ensure efficient functioning and timely delivery of justice.

“We need to use and harness technology to improve the justice system, to ensure that people accused of crimes are brought to justice and delays are reduced. The only way to ensure that the system works well is to ensure that good technology is introduced into the system,” Justice Manmohan added.

The pilot hybrid court uses advanced technologies, including Automatic Speech Recognition and Large Language Models, to efficiently convert spoken words into text. This digital transition is a powerful tool and a potential game-changer in legal proceedings.

Justice Manmohan pointed out the multifunctional aspect of this technology and said it offers a solution to the dire shortage of stenographers in the courts.

He indicated that it is still a struggle to meet the demand for stenographers and suggested that the new system could significantly alleviate this problem.

“As Chief Justice, the biggest problem I face is that all the judges are requesting a large number of stenographers and there is not enough pool available. I think this will solve the problem to a large extent because once the speech-to-text facility is available, particularly with regard to the recording of evidence by the joint clerks and by the district courts, it will ensure that there is quite a large pool of stenographers available for other purposes,” he said.

The event also saw the launch of a ‘digital court application’ designed to improve judicial proceedings by giving judicial officers access to all electronically filed cases.

This desktop application has features such as document upload, so that all physical documents presented in court are also available digitally in the Case Information System (CIS).

Justice Manmohan praised the IT committee headed by Justice Rajiv Shakdhar and lauded the hard work and dedication of the committee for the success of this initiative.

He also acknowledged that there are financial constraints and priorities that must be balanced to further expand these technological advances.

“We need a lot more finances. The state has its own priorities, of course. So there’s a bit of a struggle, or there’s a bit of a discussion about it, and we have to solve it,” he said.

Justice Manmohan expressed concern over the misuse of technology and warned that technology is often used to violate laws.

He stressed the importance of using technology properly to combat such violations and ensure that people abide by the law.

“When I stand in court today and judge cases, what strikes me most is that technology is being used to circumvent the law, break the law and facilitate infringement.

“The only way we can tackle violations and ensure people comply with the law is by using technology in the right way,” he added.

Work is underway to develop hybrid court facilities in all the 691 district courts in Delhi, with a budget allocation of about Rs 387 crore. Fourteen pilot projects are currently in the pipeline.

The opening ceremony was attended by several esteemed members of the judiciary and the legal fraternity, including Justice Suresh Kumar Kait, Justice Rajiv Shakdhar, Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav, Justice Sanjeev Narula, Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, Justice Girish Kathpaliya, Chief Justice and Sessions Judge (Headquarters) Sanjay Garf, Chief Justice and Sessions Judge (Western) Vinod Kumar, Senior Advocate Mohit Mathur, President of the Bar Association of the Delhi High Court, and Nitin Ahlawat, President of the Bar Association of Delhi.