AI use in courts at pilot stage, no formal policy yet: Law minister in Parliament

The Centre told the Parliament on Friday that the use of artificial intelligence in India’s courts was still limited to pilot projects and there was no formal police in this regard. This was submitted by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

This comes even as cases involving manipulated digital content continue to rise across the nation.

In the reply, Meghwal said courts are increasingly dealing with fake videos, morphed images and other doctored material. He added that such cases are being prosecuted under the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, using provisions for offences such as identity theft, cheating by impersonation and electronic forgery.

Meghwal said the judiciary has acknowledged the growing risk posed by doctored digital content and its influence on public perception. The minister said the government has introduced multiple legal updates, including amendments to the IT Act and changes under the new criminal laws, as a response to this trend. He said the process for certifying electronic evidence has been tightened and digital records now require authentication certificates to be accepted in any court. This change has been introduced under Section 63 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, the minister said in the reply. He added the government is also upgrading digital infrastructure through the eCourts Mission Mode Project.

The minister pointed out that court hearings are increasingly being live-streamed and verified copies of judgments are available through the online judgment search portal.

The Law Minister said Rs 53.57 crore have been earmarked for integrating emerging technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Blockchain.

While the Supreme Court has created an Artificial Intelligence Committee to study how AI tools can be used, Meghwal clarified that no formal policy or guidelines have been issued to date.

Pilot tools currently being tested include the Legal Research Analysis Assistant (LegRAA), used to support judges with research, and Digital Courts 2.1, a platform that offers a single interface for case management. Voice-to-text and translation tools are under trails as well, along with PANINI, which assists judges in dictating orders and judgments.

Meghwal, however, asserted that the judiciary is moving cautiously. He added that concerns remain over language accuracy, algorithmic bias, data protection and the need for human oversight of any AI-generated output.

To address these issues, the chairperson of the Supreme Court’s eCommittee has set up a sub-committee of High Court judges and technical experts to recommend improvements in connectivity, authentication and data privacy, the reply stated.