For the first time Supreme Court uses Artificial Intelligence for live transcription of hearings

The Supreme Court had been operating in virtual mode in 2020 due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the nation-wide lockdown. Since then many major cases have been live streamed

In a major breakthrough the Supreme Court of India will use Artificial Intelligence and technology driven by Natural Language Processing for live transcription of hearings.

The Live transcription has been launched on a pilot basis at 10.30 in the court hall of Chief Justice of India (CJI), D Y Chandrachud. The Chief is heading a Constitution Bench which is hearing a case related to the power struggle in Maharashtra.

A screen displaying the live transcription of the court proceedings has been placed in the Court Hall 1, facing the lawyers. It is also reported that the Supreme Court will make transcripts of oral arguments available on its website.

The transcription service is being done by a company called TERES, which has been providing this facility to arbitration practitioners.

Senior Advocate Indira Jaising in his plea calling fro live-streaming of important case had suggested allowing audio transcripts of hearings for archival. The suggestions had been taken on record by a Bench headed by CJI Chandrachud.

In the year 2018, the Supreme Court had first expressed its inclination to allow live streaming of court proceedings and a few high-profile case were live streamed on an experimental basis.

Legal experts have argued that live streaming would enhance transparency and accountability in the judicial system. Some others had however expressed concerns over privacy and security issues.

In September last year, the Supreme Court then headed by CJI U U Lalit had started live streaming of Constitutional matters.

Live streamings also take place in the High Courts of Gujarat, Odisha, Karnataka, Patna, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. However the rest of the High Courts and many other lower courts are yet to be equipped with live streaming of proceedings.

The Supreme Court had used the mode of virtual court proceedings, through online video conferencing in 2020 due to the national wide lockdown owing to COVID-19.

CJI Chandrachud had however said that virtual courts will not replace the physical courts. He had said at a lecture, that virtual courts have allowed women to tackle gendered demands. He also said that it has been assumed that law and technology are at odds with each other because one protects the rights of individuals and the other fosters innovation. He also added that they are both interconnected. For instance, technology can help human rights organisations to efficiently record instances of human rights violations, Justice Chandrachud had said.