Supreme Court of India Reconstitutes AI Committee Under CJI Surya Kant's Direction to Modernize Judiciary

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant has reconstructed the Supreme Court's Artificial Intelligence Committee with a mandate to guide the implementation, advancement, and utilization of AI technologies throughout the higher judiciary and lower courts, according to an official announcement released Wednesday.

The official statement reveals that the newly formed committee will be led by Supreme Court Justice PS Narasimha, accompanied by several distinguished members: Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva, Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court; Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V from the Kerala High Court; Justice Anoop Chitkara representing the Punjab & Haryana High Court; and Justice Suraj Govindaraj of the Karnataka High Court.

Anupam Patra, who serves as OSD (Registrar) (Technology) for the Supreme Court, has been appointed as the Committee's Member-Secretary and Convenor. Additionally, Ashish J Shiradhonkar, Member (Systems) of the Supreme Court's eCommittee, will participate as a Special Invitee.

According to the statement, the CJI has directed the Committee to continue "guide and oversee initiatives relating to the adoption, development, and deployment of artificial intelligence tools and systems" throughout the Supreme Court and subordinate judiciary. The primary goal is to enhance judicial efficiency, accessibility, and transparency within India's justice system.

This restructuring follows a recent government disclosure to the Lok Sabha indicating that despite the Supreme Court having established an AI Committee to investigate emerging technologies in judicial processes, no formal policies or guidelines have yet been issued as AI tools remain in a controlled pilot phase.

Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal informed Parliament that the judiciary is proceeding with caution, noting concerns regarding algorithmic bias, language and translation limitations, data privacy and security issues, and the necessity for manual verification of AI-generated outputs.

Currently, during the pilot testing of AI-based solutions, the Supreme Court's eCommittee reports no evidence of systemic bias, unintended content, or other significant issues.

MoS Meghwal further mentioned that the Supreme Court's e-Committee has already developed limited-use AI applications, including the Legal Research Analysis Assistant (LegRAA) and Digital Courts 2.1 featuring voice-to-text capabilities (ASR-SHRUTI) and translation functions (PANINI), designed to assist judges with research, documentation, and case management.

The minister also addressed the increasing challenge of fabricated and manipulated digital content being submitted in court proceedings, noting that such offenses are prosecuted under relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.