Overview
- Chief Justice Surya Kant told the NALSA regional conference in Indore on Saturday that digital tools have levelled the playing field for lawyers outside metros by widening access to legal research, e‑filing and case tracking.
- The CJI said an integrated digital justice ecosystem — including One Case One Data, the e‑Courts suite, virtual hearings and the National Judicial Data Grid — has helped cut long backlogs by enabling data‑driven case management and faster disposal.
- Speakers reaffirmed that artificial intelligence should augment judicial work but never replace human decision‑making and must include privacy, explainability and data safeguards set out in the Supreme Court’s draft AI guidance.
- Justice Abha Nayar Patel and others warned that technology risks 'digitising' inequality if rollout ignores connectivity, language, literacy and device gaps, and urged clear standards plus local outreach through paralegals and legal services volunteers.
- Officials moved from policy talk to action at the conference by launching NALSA initiatives such as a Justice for Children fellowship and by announcements like Madhya Pradesh’s pledge to set up fast‑track courts in Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior and Jabalpur to clear exam‑irregularity cases.