Judiciary must function like 24×7 hospitals, says CJI Surya Kant

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said the judiciary should function like 24x7 hospitals to address the common man's needs and called for deeper use of technology and AI in courts to speed up justice delivery during a programme at the Madhya Pradesh High Court

Jabalpur: Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant on Saturday said it was time for the judiciary to address the pain and aspirations of the common man through an immediate relief-giving mechanism, and stressed the need for the judicial system to function like hospitals that work round-the-clock.

He said technology was the only effective answer to the wastage of judicial time, and called for deepening technology and artificial intelligence (AI)-based judicial architecture to expedite justice delivery.

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The CJI was speaking at a programme organised by the Madhya Pradesh High Court on “Fragmentation to fusion, Empowering justice via united digital platform integration”. He also launched the high court’s newly developed digital platforms.

“Indian judiciary is committed to ensuring optimum utilisation of not only technological advancements that have been going on and which are an integral part of our system since 1990, but also of the latest AI designs and how we can use them for the benefit of the common man,” he said.

“We should think of deepening technology and AI-based judicial architecture. Technology is the only effective answer to wasting judicial time,” CJI Kant said.

The time has come when the judiciary needs to address the aspirations, requirements, demands, pain and agony of the common man through an immediate relief-giving system, he said.

“For that, the judiciary needs to work like hospitals that function 24×7,” he added.

Recalling the COVID-19 pandemic, the CJI said the Indian judiciary was praised globally for discharging its constitutional duties during difficult times.

“We did not close our courts,” he said, elaborating on how technology enabled courts to conduct urgent hearings during the pandemic.

He stressed the need to make use of technological advancements in the judiciary for expediting the justice delivery system.

Praising the Madhya Pradesh HC for developing digital platforms, the CJI said that, as stated by Union Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal, there was a need to roll out these technological advancements at the pan-India level.

A committee has been constituted by the Supreme Court on how to use AI for the benefit of the judicial system, especially in the speedy disposal of cases, according to him.

Minister Meghwal, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and MP High Court Chief Justice Sanjeev Sabharwal also spoke on the occasion.