In a bid to make legal documents more accessible to a wider public, the Supreme Court has been translating orders and ruling into vernacular languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Punjabi, Marathi, Malayalam, Bangla, Telegu, Kanada, Nepali and Urdu with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI). So far, they have translated at least 300 documents, with the majority being available in Hindi. 

These translations were carried out with the help of AI-based tools that were developed in-house. In the initial phase, the apex court shared these tools with 15 high courts for testing and feedback purposes. 

 A top Court official said, “The need to have judgments in vernacular languages arose as litigants have been approaching the Supreme Court office asking for a copy of the final verdict in a language they can speak and read. Every litigant may not be an English-speaking individual.”

The initiative, which was launched in July last year, focuses on enabling better access towards justice to the litigants by providing them with access to knowledge so that they have the ability to independently take decisions, with more freedom from a lawyer. 

Documents such as civil disputes, criminal matters, landlord-tenant disputes, matrimonial issues etc. are being prioritised. However, the translations are only available a week later. The translated judgements are being published online, on the SC’s official website; the daily proceedings are available for the litigants and lawyers who raise a request for the same.