CUTTACK (ODISHA): 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.
“I have witnessed partition disputes among embittered families dissolve into reconciliation after a single honest conversation. I have seen trademark battles settled because counsel helped clients see commercial sense over ego. I have seen petty criminal proceedings, financial quarrels, and even cross-border commercial disputes find solutions outside the courtroom,” he said.
Noting that every experienced judge can sense when a matter is ripe for settlement, the CJI said that sensing it is not enough, one must act, the Bar must act, and parties must act. He said India already possesses the legal architecture for mediation; what it needs now is the cultural commitment to use it.
“For mediation to become a genuine legal avenue, three immediate changes are needed, in my opinion: parties must understand its value, settlement is not surrender; it is a strategy,” he said, adding that the government departments must shed their reflexive habit of filing appeals.
“Many appeals are not based on legal principle but on institutional anxiety. In this regard, training and accountability frameworks become essential,” Kant said, adding that lawyers must approach the appropriate forum, not the one they consider most suitable.
The CJI also added a word of caution before moving forward. He said, in an enthusiasm for novel solutions, we sometimes forget that India already possesses homegrown mechanisms that work remarkably well. “Everything new is not necessarily better, and every old structure is not obsolete,” he said.
Justice Surya Kanta cited the instance of the Lok Adalat system, according to him, this has been an enduring success in the National Lok Adalat drives. It remains one of the most efficacious grassroots justice innovations anywhere in the world, he noted.
He also stressed the need to strengthen judicial infrastructure to reduce pendency.
“This is because without sufficient courts, even the most sincere judicial system will collapse under logistical strain,” he said.
The CJI said a system where the executive, legislature and judiciary do not move in harmony resembles a tricycle missing a wheel — the rule of law cannot balance, let alone move forward.
“And the consequences are stark — laws may be enacted, offences registered, even liberty curtailed, yet the citizen is left waiting for the one thing that completes the promise of justice: a timely trial that the infrastructure is simply too frail to deliver,” he added.
Among others, Orissa High Court Chief Justice Harish Tandon and judges from high courts across India attended the event. The programme was organised by the Orissa High Court Bar Association. (PTI)