The Supreme Court of India and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to promote the Indian judiciary's digital transformation and improve access to justice, a report by PTI states.

According to a press statement released by the Supreme Court's public relations office, the MoU was signed during Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud's visit to the IIT Madras in July of this year.

The apex court and IIT Madras will be collaborating on using artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies for "transcription tools, summarisation of page transcript, translation tool, exclusive streaming platform for court trials, process automation and large languages models for the legal domain", it said. 

The release further says, "The MoU is aimed to facilitate the digital transformation of the Indian judiciary, aligning it with the vision for a more efficient and technologically advanced legal ecosystem to improve access to justice.”

It stated that the Supreme Court, led by CJI Chandrachud, is driving technological advances to make its processes more automated, user-friendly, and citizen-centric in order to improve access to justice.

According to the release, the collaboration, which will also focus on leveraging AI tools in capacity building and training, developing an e-learning platform, and developing ICT skill development courses, represents a significant step forward in the incorporation of AI and technology to improve the efficiency, accessibility, and capacity building of the legal domain.