In A Historic First, Supreme Court Officially Publishes Transcript Of Arguments

The Supreme Court has officially published the transcript of yesterday's arguments before the Constitution Bench in the Shiv Sena matter. The move came after the announcement of CJI DY Chandrachud that the Court has started using Artificial Intelligence to transcribe hearings on an experimental basis. 

It is for the first time that the Supreme Court is publishing the transcript of the hearing.

A display screen exhibiting the live transcription of the court proceedings had been placed in Court Room 1, facing the lawyers. TERES, a company that has been supplying this facility to arbitration practitioners, is providing the transcription service.

"We're just trying to explore the possibilities of live transcript. It is an experiment. Then we will have a permanent record of arguments. Of course, it will help the judges and the lawyers, but law colleges can also analyse how arguments are made", the CJI had said while announcing the move yesterday.

While AI is transcribing the proceedings, the draft will be manually vetted, the CJI said.

The draft of yesterday's hearing was shared with the lawyers. After verification, the transcript was officially uploaded in the Supreme Court website today evening. It can be accessed here.

When the CJI made the announcement yesterday, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal lauded that it is a "wonderful idea" and "milestone". Justice PS Narasimha said that this will mean that the Supreme Court will be literally a "Court of Record" with every spoken word getting recorded.

Appreciating the move, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju tweeted : "Honble Chief Justice of India Justice DY Chandrachud has taken a great initiative in the Supreme Court by using AI to transcribe hearings. Supreme Court officially publishes the transcript of the Constitution Bench proceedings".