Technology is now a constitutional instrument for equality before law: CJI Surya Kant

New Delhi: Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Saturday said technology is no longer an administrative convenience, but has become a constitutional instrument and a tool that strengthens equality before law, expands access to justice, and allows the judiciary to transcend procedural rigidities.

Speaking at the inaugural function of the National Conference on Judicial Process Re-engineering and Digital Transformation, Kant said that at the core of any justice system lies a simple but enduring promise that every individual, regardless of means or circumstances, must be able to access justice in a fair, timely and effective manner.

Addressing the gathering of Supreme Court judges, judicial officers, judges of the high courts and district judges in the presence of Union Ministers Arjun Ram Meghwal and Jitin Prasada, Kant said the reform of a justice system is measured by how meaningfully citizens, advocates and other stakeholders will be able to benefit from it.

"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 added that they have a larger vision for the creation of a 'natively digital' ecosystem, a future where justice is not merely a place one goes to, but a service that is seamless, transparent, and available to every individual.

"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," Kant said.

Emphasising that in a country as socially and geographically diverse as India, Kant said digitisation cannot succeed unless it is accompanied by genuine accessibility, adding that establishment of 2,331 e-Sewa Kendras has played an important role in this respect.

The CJI further said that phase III for the e-courts project, which was supported by the Centre with an outlay of Rs 7,210 crore, was designed to be a decisive reorientation of the entire enterprise, and the vision animating the phase was to carry the promise of digitisation to the remotest corner of our country.

"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, adding that the changes, which have been taken by the judiciary over the years, have marked the emergence of a new kind of system.

The CJI highlighted structural reforms made in the form of the National Judicial Data Grid and said it is perhaps one of the most consequential transparency and monitoring tools any democracy has created for its justice system, enabling tracking of over 4.5 crore pending cases in real time.