This is a first for the Supreme Court.

Using AI tools and Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology, the Supreme Court of India implemented a live transcription system for oral arguments for the first time in its history on Tuesday.

Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, leading a Constitution Bench, demonstrated the system by pointing to a screen facing the lawyers and stating that it was an experiment to explore the possibility of live transcription of arguments in court. (Indian Express)

The Supreme Court Bench, consisting of Justices M R Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli and P S Narasimha, convened to hear petitions arising from the Shiv Sena fallout in Maharashtra last year.

CJI Chandrachud expressed that the resulting record would be an invaluable resource for lawyers, law students, and the judiciary. Justice Narasimha remarked that every word would be recorded in this “court of record.”

CJI Chandrachud acknowledged the potential problem of multiple lawyers speaking simultaneously but assured the Bar that the issue would be addressed by personnel cleaning up errors throughout the day. He also suggested that lawyers use a link to view the transcript during the day and that this same method could be applied in physical hearings to prevent overlap of voices.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, present for the Maharashtra matter, welcomed the new  system. Sibal noted that similar proceedings called Examination Before Trial (EBT) were recorded in New York in the 1970s.

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