AHMEDABAD: Justice DY Chandrachud of the Supreme Court on Monday called for a healthy balance between the use of technology and human intervention to enhance the experience of the justice delivery system.
He said while technology is the facilitator of change, it is the human mind alone that will remain its driver.
Justice Chandrachud was speaking via video conferencing after virtually inaugurating a 'justice clock' that has been set up in Gujarat High Court along with its e-version on its website, as well as an e-court fees system for all the courts in the state.
Gujarat High Court becomes the first in the country to have a 'justice clock', which is an outdoor display LED wall within the court premises to display disposal and pendency of cases, etc.
"A healthy balance between the use of technology and human intervention has to be maintained. Technology, we must understand, is the facilitator of change, but the driver of change has been, is, and must continue to be the human mind. The only limitation on the human mind is human commitment to change and to adapt," said Justice Chandrachud.
"We can never forget the human face of justice which lies on the back of all technologies," he added.
Lauding the new initiatives of the Gujarat High Court, he said technological enablement of the judiciary has been made possible "through constant deliberation, coordination and cooperation" among the High Courts, the Central and state governments, and other service providers.
Justice Chandrachud, who is also the chairman of the e-Committee of the Supreme Court, said technology has taught the judiciary, which is criticized for being "oblivious to time," to "respect time value of all stakeholders."
"Unfortunately, it is true we forget the clock while we do justice. In a way it is good we forget the clock, because judges work oblivious to the demands of time. Once you handle a case in the court, no case is big, and no case is too small, because it represents a human face behind a dispute. But equally, technology has taught us we must respect the time value of all stakeholders," he said.
The Supreme Court judge further said technology should bring about "transformation, and not just automation," and also urged judges, members of the bar and other stakeholders to "adapt to the needs of technology, because technology is here to stay."
He said the next step should be evaluating the process of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology in court processes, and appealed to the Gujarat government to use AI for better predicted outcomes of land acquisition cases as well as those related to motor accident claims.
"There is a strong message in this for all of us, that technology has completely transformed our lives. And it is important we as judges and stakeholders and members of the bar adapt to the needs of technology, because technology is here to stay," he further said.
The technological milestones reached by one HC will serve as an inspiration and provide a template for best practices that others can learn from, and such sustained cooperation would enable stakeholders to reduce regional disparities at the level of technological development and adopt the best standards, he added.
Sharing data from the National Judiciary Data Grid, Justice Chandrachud said there are a total of 1.52 lakh cases pending in the Gujarat High Court, with 59 cases being more than 30 years old.
The oldest pending civil case dates back to November 12, 1981, and the oldest criminal case dates back to 1990, he said.
In the district judiciary in Gujarat, there are 19.75 lakh pending cases, comprising 4.57 lakh civil and 15.17 lakh criminal cases, with 6,596 cases being over 30 years old, he said.
The oldest pending criminal case dates back to September 28, 1976 in Rajkot, and the oldest civil case is pending since April 26, 1974 in Ahmedabad court, he informed.
At the same time, since the COVID-19 outbreak triggered a lockdown from March, 2020 till January 17, 2022, 19.57 lakh cases were registered in Gujarat courts, out of which 15.95 lakh were disposed of, he said, adding that such unique figures will serve as a role model for the world.
At the programme, Justice MR Shah of the Supreme Court said the justice clock system will also enhance transparency and accountability, and will show the "real truth" that judicial officers are not sitting idle.
Justice Bela Trivedi of the Supreme Court said such projects are meant not only to bring transparency and accountability in the judicial system but also automate the processes in accessibility of information to the stakeholders.
Justice Aravind Kumar, Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court, called the two initiatives as "litigant and citizen-centric," and said these are the results and fruits of technology, coupled with the vision and efforts of the e-Committee of the Supreme Court.
Hours after Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana expressed unhappiness over disruptions during virtual hearings due to the use of mobiles, the Supreme Court on Monday asked the advocates and litigants to use a desktop or the laptop with a stable internet connection to join proceedings conducted through video conferencing.
"All advocates and party-in person are requested to join the CISCO Webex application for joining the court hearing through video conferencing (VC) via a desktop/laptop with a stable internet connectivity, preferably wired, to avoid any disruption and inconvenience to the Hon'ble Judges," the notification issued by the apex court registry said.
The notification advised the lawyers and litigants to join the virtual proceedings through a single device either a laptop or a desktop.
"All advocates, party-in-person must also join the VC hearings preferably using a headset enabled microphone and audio system. Please also close all background applications running on your devices for best VC experience," the notification reads.
The notification assumes significance since earlier in the day, the hearing in as many as 10 cases was to be adjourned by the bench headed by the CJI as the lawyers were either inaudible or invisible or both.
The bench was irked over frequent disruptions as the lawyers or litigants were mostly joining the proceedings through phones using mobile data and even observed that it may have to ban participation through mobiles.
"Lawyers are appearing using their mobile phones and are not visible. We may have to ban this mobile business. Mr counsel, you are now practicing in the Supreme Court and appear regularly. Can't you afford to have a desktop to argue," the CJI observed in one of the cases.
During the hearing of another case, the bench took note of poor internet connectivity at the lawyer's end and said, "We have no energy to hear cases like this. Please devise a system by which we can hear you. Ten matters are over like this and we are shouting."
The top court has been hearing cases through video-conferencing since March 2020 due to the pandemic and has been relaxing or tightening the conditions from time to time keeping in mind the changing pandemic situation.
The apex court, on January 2, took note of a sudden spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country and decided to hear all matters in virtual mode, and from January 7, the benches are sitting at the residential offices of the judges.