Artificial Intelligence May Not Be Fruitful In Writing Judgments, Human Element Critical: Patna High Court CJ Vinod Chandran

Patna High Court Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran on Monday expressed scepticism about the use of Artificial Intelligence for writing judgments.

While speaking at the launch of six new applications developed by the Patna High Court's e-Committee for technological advancement of the legal system, the CJ remarked,

“Essentially what we have to realise when we go into computerization, is that there are certain things where human interference cannot be avoided, like writing judgments, for one. I don't know how fruitful it would be to have AI write judgments. I hear a lot about that all over, but I do not think the time has come yet to speak about what you call AI judgments.”

During his address, the CJ also recollected that a similar function was held a year ago where nine IT initiatives were inaugurated under the leadership of Justice Amanullah. He expressed his admiration for the rapid progress made by the court's IT team but pointed that despite the remarkable strides in digitalization, Patna High Court has not always received the recognition it deserves. He shared his observations from various Computer Committee meetings, where other courts highlighted their achievements, while Patna remained under acknowledged.

"We have been taught—our generation has been taught—that somebody else has to pat our backs, not ourselves, but these days, that is not what I see around. In all the Computer Committee meetings and conferences I attend, whether in the Judicial Academy or otherwise, we see some of the courts highlighting their achievements. I have always wondered why Patna has not been given such a unique position, especially since—you would all know, or I don't know if you know about it—recently Patna was commended for having the best online filing system in the country. Patna is the only High Court in the country where there is complete online filing,” he said.

Further, the Chief Justice lauded the voluntary efforts of 1,700 officers from the district judiciary who undertook the translation of Supreme Court judgments into regional languages without receiving any monetary compensation. “The Supreme Court was paying per paper to the advocates and other persons who volunteered, who were entrusted with the task of this translation. 1,700 of our district judiciary officers volunteered, and they did it for free, without any payment.”

He concluded his address with a commitment to ensuring that the Patna High Court's achievements in the technological domain receive the recognition they deserve, stating, “Next time we are invited to a Computer Committee meeting, I intend to ask someone to ensure that Patna High Court's achievements are also showcased.”