The Supreme Court has started testing an AI-driven tool to read case files, extract concerns, and highlight pertinent precedents for judges, the judge added while speaking at a summit on law and AI.
Judge Justice Manmohan of the Supreme Court stated on Saturday that if decisions in cases involving common, minor offenses are transferred to automated systems, artificial intelligence (AI) might assist clear more than 60% of India's litigation backlog.
Justice Manmohan gave the keynote speech at the India Law, AI and Tech Summit 2025, which was hosted by Oak Bridge in Delhi.
The judge noted that technology should relieve judges of administrative duties and enable courts to focus on intricate decisions.
He clarified that a significant amount of India's caseload consists of small, recurring conflicts that don't call for careful judicial consideration.
He described the kind of scenarios that could be redirected to decision-making platforms with AI capabilities:
"Traffic issues, check bouncing situations, minor infractions. Since these are routine issues that are simple to handle, AI could make the decision.
He claimed that the impact on pendency would be revolutionary if such cases were transferred to AI-assisted procedures.
"More than 60% of our litigation would be resolved if that were to happen, and the remaining infrastructure could focus on the core 40% of the litigation," he noted.
He pointed out that AI may assist in grouping thousands of related cases, especially land acquisition conflicts and other large filings, so that judges could rule on whole blocks of cases at once.
But he also cautioned that before AI is widely used, its drawbacks—such as algorithmic prejudice, hallucinated case rules, and privacy issues—must be addressed.
He continued by saying that the Supreme Court has started testing SU-PACE, an AI-powered tool that reads case files, extracts issues, and highlights pertinent precedents for judges.
He referred to the technology as a "digital research assistant" and stated that the pilot's goal is to cut down on the amount of time judges must spend perusing large print books and copious files.
"It calls out the law and prepares a summary of the readings and issues." It emphasizes what is crucial for the judge to take into account, but it won't render a decision," he stated.
According to his predictions, the future will see hybrid judicial models in which technology handles ordinary and administrative tasks, freeing up judges to focus on cases requiring sophisticated reasoning, empathy, and constitutional sensitivity.
"The integrity, independence, and intelligence of the human judge are the ultimate characteristics of justice, not the algorithm," he continued.
Dr. Manoj Kumar, Additional Secretary in the Union Ministry of Law and Justice, Dr. Shailesh V. Haribhakti, and Dr. Lalit Bhasin, President of the Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF), were among the other speakers at the summit's opening session.
Dr. Bhasin reiterated worries about an excessive dependence on AI in his speech. He described a practice interview with new attorneys, saying,
"Every draft was the same... What does this suggest? It suggests that we are essentially enslaved to artificial intelligence. There is virtually little mental application, which is extremely risky for this line of work.
Efficient technologies cannot divert attention from the greater crisis of pendency and structural dysfunction, he said.
However, what about how the cases are resolved? There were five crore cases outstanding in 2023–2024. You can see that the amount has now surpassed 5 crores thanks to this facilitation process.
Bhasin continued by highlighting the reasons why litigation delays continue.
"We have too many laws. Our laws are out of date. Our laws overlap. Our laws are poorly written. The legal profession will benefit from that. but detrimental to the economy and the nation."
He cautioned about the limitations of technology in law as he concluded his speech.
"Use technology as a tool, but don't let it control you. Yes, depending too much on technology is acceptable, but it can never fully replace the human brain, according to Dr. Bhasin.
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