NEW DELHI: Technology is no longer an administrative convenience, but has become a constitutional tool and tool that promotes equality before the law, expands access to justice and allows the judiciary to overcome procedural gridlock, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said on Saturday.
Speaking at the opening session of the National Conference on Judicial Process Reengineering and Digital Transformation, Kant said that the essence of any justice system lies in the simple but enduring promise that every individual, regardless of means or circumstances, should be able to access justice in a fair, timely and effective manner.
Addressing a gathering of Supreme Court judges, judicial officers, high court judges and district judges in the presence of union ministers Arjun Ram Meghwal and Jitin Prasada, Kant said reform of the justice system is measured by how useful it is for citizens, advocates and other stakeholders to benefit from it.
“We must ensure that every court functions as an integrated digital court equipped not only with hybrid hearing facilities, but is capable of functioning as a completely paperless court. Technology has become a constitutional tool. It is no longer an administrative convenience; it is a tool that enhances equality before the law, expands access to justice, and allows the judiciary to transcend procedural gridlock,” the CJI said.
He added that they have a larger vision to create a “digital native” ecosystem, a future where justice is not just a place one goes, but a seamless, transparent service available to every individual.
“I am happy to say that this is now not just an aspiration for the distant future; it is already a work in progress. The e-Commission is actively working on building the ‘digital foundation’ that will allow technology to serve the entire case lifecycle and integrate all stakeholders into the justice delivery system,” the CJI said.
Emphasizing that in a socially and geographically diverse country like India, digitalisation cannot succeed unless it is accompanied by genuine accessibility, Kant said the establishment of 2,331 e-Sewa Kendras played an important role in this regard.
“These Kendras offer assistance in accessing case status, facilitate video conferencing, and offer support to those who may find it difficult to navigate digital systems. I am confident that these initiatives will ensure that access to digital justice does not depend on a person’s wealth or linguistic proficiency. Technology must transcend physical and economic barriers, and that must remain our guiding principle,” he said.
The CJI also said that the third phase of the e-Courts project, which the Center supported with expenditure of Rs $7,210 crore was designed to be a critical redirection of the entire project, and the vision driving this phase was to take the promise of digitalization to the remotest corner of our country.
“It seems to me that technology, in and of itself, is not a measure of progress. At best, it can speed up the process. But if basic processes remain cumbersome and rooted in outdated procedural structures, technology can provide only limited relief. It may improve convenience, but it cannot, by itself, achieve the structural reform that our judicial system requires,” he said, adding that the changes taken by the judiciary over the years have seen the emergence of a new type of system.
The CJI highlighted the structural reforms undertaken in the form of the National Judicial Data Network and said it is perhaps one of the most important transparency and monitoring tools that any democracy has created for its judicial system, enabling tracking of over 4.5 lakh crore pending cases in real time.
“It gave us the gift of e-filing, which allowed litigants and lawyers to approach the courts without physically entering them. It also laid the foundation for the Supreme Court’s Vidhik Anuvaad software, an AI-powered translation tool, which has undertaken the crucial task of translating the vast repository of Supreme Court judgments into regional languages,” he said.
Justice Vikram Nath, who is the Chairman of the Supreme Court e-Committee, which is responsible for digital connectivity of all courts and shaping an IT-enabled judicial system in the country, announced that to ensure consistency and decorum in court proceedings, a pilot test of Digital Courts 2.1 is currently being conducted and will soon be rolled out across the country.
“We have also taken important steps towards enhancing transparency. Live streaming of court proceedings has opened the doors of courtrooms to the public in an unprecedented way. This initiative has been successfully introduced in several high courts… To ensure consistency and decorum, the e-Commission has developed model rules for live streaming and recording of court proceedings, and pilot testing of digital courts. 2.1 is already underway. This initiative will soon be rolled out across the country and will serve to standardize and enhance our digital capabilities,” he said.
Justice Nath said that re-engineering the judicial process is not about changing the fundamentals of justice, but rather about redesigning the paths through which justice is achieved.
“This requires us to dismantle existing workflows, remove redundancies, and rebuild them with clarity and efficiency,” he said.
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