CJI Surya Kant said technology has become central to ensuring equality before law and improving access to justice across India. He emphasised building fully digital courts to make justice faster, transparent, and accessible to all.
Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant on Saturday highlighted how technology is transforming India’s justice system, stating that it is no longer just a support tool but has become central to ensuring fairness, accessibility, and efficiency in courts.
Speaking at the inaugural session of the National Conference on Judicial Process Re-engineering and Digital Transformation in New Delhi, the CJI emphasised that the true purpose of any justice system is to guarantee that every citizen—irrespective of their financial condition or background—can access justice in a fair, timely, and effective manner.
Addressing a gathering that included Supreme Court judges, High Court judges, district judges, and Union Ministers Arjun Ram Meghwal and Jitin Prasada, the CJI stressed that reforms in the judiciary should be judged by how much they actually benefit common people, lawyers, and all stakeholders involved.
“We must ensure that every court serves as an integrated digital court equipped not only with hybrid hearing facilities, but capable of functioning as a fully paperless court. Technology has become a constitutional instrument. It is no longer an administrative convenience; it is a tool that strengthens equality before the law, expands access to justice, and allows the judiciary to transcend procedural rigidities,”
the CJI said.
He further explained that the judiciary is working towards building a completely digital ecosystem where justice is easily available to everyone without unnecessary delays or barriers.
“I am glad to say that now this is not merely an aspiration for the distant future; it is work already underway. The e-Committee is actively building the ‘digital bedrock’ that will allow technology to serve the entire lifecycle of a case and integrate every stakeholder of the justice delivery system,”
the CJI said.
Highlighting India’s diversity, CJI Surya Kant pointed out that digital reforms must also focus on inclusivity. He said digitisation will only succeed if it is accessible to people across different regions, languages, and economic backgrounds.
“These Kendras provide assistance in accessing case status, facilitate video conferencing, and offer support to those who may otherwise find digital systems difficult to navigate. I am confident that these initiatives will ensure that access to digital justice does not depend on a person’s wealth or linguistic proficiency. Technology must transcend physical and economic barriers, and that must remain our guiding principle,”
he said.
He also spoke about Phase III of the e-Courts Project, which has received significant financial support from the government and aims to expand digital justice to even the remotest parts of India.
“It seems to me that technology, by itself, is not the yardstick for advancement. At best, it can accelerate a process. But if the underlying processes remain cumbersome and rooted in outdated procedural structures, technology can provide only limited relief. It may improve convenience, but it cannot, by itself, bring about the structural reform that our justice system requires,”
he said.
The CJI highlighted important structural reforms already implemented, including the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), which allows real-time tracking of more than 4.5 crore pending cases, improving transparency and accountability in the system. He also noted the introduction of e-filing and AI-based translation tools for Supreme Court judgments, making legal information more accessible to people in regional languages.
Justice Vikram Nath, who heads the Supreme Court’s e-Committee, also spoke at the event and shared updates on upcoming digital initiatives. He said that pilot testing of Digital Courts 2.1 is currently underway and will soon be implemented across the country to ensure uniformity and better functioning of court proceedings.
“We have also taken important steps towards enhancing transparency. The live streaming of court proceedings has opened the doors of our courtrooms to the public in an unprecedented manner. This initiative has been successfully introduced in several high courts… To ensure consistency and decorum, the e-Committee has framed model rules for live streaming and recording of court proceedings, and the pilot testing of digital courts. 2.1 is already underway. This initiative will soon be rolled out across the country and will further standardise and enhance our digital capabilities,”
he said.
ALSO READ: Kesavananda Bharati Case Is India’s Constitutional Backbone, Says CJI Surya Kant
Justice Nath further explained that judicial reforms are not about changing the core principles of justice, but about improving how justice is delivered to people.
“It requires us to deconstruct existing workflows, remove redundancies and rebuild them with clarity and efficiency,”
he said.
Overall, the conference reflected the judiciary’s strong push towards a modern, transparent, and citizen-friendly legal system. With initiatives like digital courts, e-filing, live streaming, and AI-based tools, the Indian judiciary is moving steadily towards making justice more accessible, faster, and inclusive for all.
Click Here to Read Previous Reports on CJI Surya Kant
