Technology should amplify human judgment, not replace it: CJI

Cuttack: Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Sunday said technology should amplify human judgment and not replace it.

He was addressing a symposium on ‘Ensuring justice for the common man: strategies for reducing litigation costs and delays’ here.

Justice Kant said technology was very useful during the COVID pandemic. He, however, said that one cannot afford to forget that technology comes with its own shadows.

“In an age of deep fakes and digital arrests, courts cannot afford naive optimism... A reform that excludes the poor, elderly, or digitally unfamiliar is not reform at all, it is regression. That is why I have always maintained that technology must remain a servant of justice, not its substitute. It should amplify human judgment, not replace it,” the CJI said.

He said that pendency of cases in courts clogs every level of the judicial structure, from the trial court to the constitutional court. And when a blockage occurs at the top, the pressure only intensifies below, he said.

While expressing concern over delays in the justice delivery system, he noted that there are two major barriers between common citizens and justice. The first, he noted, is the high cost involved in litigation, and the second is the excessive time taken to dispose of cases.

“People often speak of the vicious cycle of pendency, more cases leading to more delay, leading only to more frustration. I want to reverse that. I want a virtuous cycle when pendency falls, trust rises; when trust rises, respect for law deepens; when respect deepens, disputes diminish,” the CJI said.

Narrating his experience in courts, the CJI said that perhaps the greatest immediate potential to clear backlogs is the Alternative Dispute

Resolution (ADR), especially mediation.