No formal policy for adopting AI tools in judicial processes yet: Law Minister

Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice, Arjun Ram Meghwal, said the authorities use AI only within the areas approved in the detailed project report of eCourts Phase III.

"The judiciary is aware that integrating AI into judicial processes poses key challenges such as algorithmic bias, language and translation issues, data privacy and security concerns, and the need for manual verification of AI-generated outputs," he said in reply to a query.

MoS Meghwal said the chairperson of the e-committee, Supreme Court has formed a Sub-Committee of six High Court judges with technical experts to recommend secure connectivity and authentication mechanism for data and privacy protection, assess the digital infrastructure and service delivery systems under the eCourts Project to strengthen data security.

Sharing details about the limited use of AI in legal work, the MoS said, "An AI-based software tool called Legal Research Analysis Assistant (LegRAA) has been developed to aid judges in legal research and document analysis."

Another AI-based tool called Digital Courts 2.1 has been designed to assist Judges and Judicial Officers by providing a single window for managing all case-related information and tasks, he added.

The platform includes voice-to-text (ASR-SHRUTI) and translation (PANINI) functionalities to assist the judges with order and judgment dictation, he said.

At present, in the pilot phase of AI-based solutions, the eCommittee of the Supreme Court reports no systemic bias, unintended content, or other issues, MoS Meghwal added.

Highlighting the challenge posed by morphed or fabricated digital content filed in courts, the MoS said while dealing with such cases, the judiciary has recognised the growing risk posed by manipulated digital material and its potential impact on public perception.

He said that the fabricated digital content filed in courts under the Information Technology Act, 2000, covers offences like identity theft (Section 66C), cheating by personation using computer resources (Section 66D), publishing or transmitting obscene or harmful digital material (Sections 67, 67A and 67B).

"Cases are also registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, covering offences relating to cheating by personation (Section 319), electronic forgery and related falsification of records (Section 336) and forgery of electronic records (Section 340)," he added.