Tech Powered Judicial Empowerment

“Indian judicial system is 200 years behind compared to developed countries”, says Justice Krishna Iyer in his book ‘Law, Lawyers and Justice’. Time has come to put despair aside and take these kind of remarks as seeking opportunities to improve processes adjudication of plethora of pending and upcoming cases. For timely and fair mannered justice delivery, these processes need to be efficient, effective, and equitable.

It is timely to acknowledge the need of directly adopting tech solutions for empowering Indian judicial system as it requires fast processing and delivery mechanisms. AI, machine learning, natural language processing, digital sharing and record-keeping, etc. are some of the solutions that are already being explored and examined. “To explore the use of AI in judicial domain, the Supreme Court of India has constituted Artificial Intelligence Committee which has mainly identified application of AI technology in Translation of judicial documents; Legal research assistance and Process automation,” Law Minister Kiren Rijiju stated recently in Parliament conveying about implementation of phase two of the eCourts projects of the government.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one technology that has gained a lot of relevance in last couple of years with the government of India trying to incorporate it even in the day-to-day functioning of the three pillars of Indian Democracy. However small the percentage may be, making the procedures and functioning public is another bold attempt that will rightly help in taking masses in confidence and building a parallel bridge to digital connectivity and setup of an overall advanced working judicial system.

Another stepping stone towards this new-age judicial ecosystem was set with the launch of the AI-driven research portal SUPACE (Supreme Court Portal for Assistance in Courts Efficiency) last year. The portal deals with large chunks of case data through machine-learning. However, SUPACE does not participate in decision-making as its AI mechanisms are focused on collection and analysis of data. “We are not going to let AI spill over to decision-making… It fully retains the autonomy and the discretion of the judge in deciding the case, though at a much, much faster pace because of the readiness with which the information is made available by the AI,” former CJI SA Bobde had said while launching the portal.

Apart from tech solutions, efforts are also being invested in enabling greater digital connectivity and better focus on easy and secured usage of electronic data and record-keeping. Ensuring the same, CJI N.V. Ramana has launched ‘Fast and Secured Transmission of Electronic Records’ or FASTER, a digital platform that will assist court officials to instantly send e-copies of the orders through a secured electronic communication channel to intended parties. This was followed by the launch of a new divyang-friendly website by the department of justice, providing all citizens with a one-stop platform for all digital initiatives of the Justice Department. This will allow public to view High Courts judgements and orders, view case status, settle traffic violations, and even view Live streaming of court proceedings of High Courts of Gujarat, Orissa, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Patna and MP. The website will also keep other important information for public about eCourts Mission Mode Project, appointment of Judges, fast-track special Courts, Nyaya Bandhu, Gram Nyayalaya, DISHA scheme, Tele Law, etc.

Amidst ongoing debates on right manner to address judicial inefficiencies by extending working hours, reducing public holidays, setting up more courts, appointing more judges, filling up the vacancies etc, Technology adoption is surely looking like the winner. Further, changes in laws and social structure are easier to incorporate in these tech solutions.

Discussing Discounted Diesel

Availability, Accessibility, Affordability, and Acceptability – these form the conceptual framework for India’s energy security to support its economic growth and developmental goals. Modern world’s success parameters have primarily been economic, where energy consumption has become both a necessary condition as well as an outcome of it. India lacks capabilities to meet all its energy demand from domestic sources and it has sought to achieve its energy security through multiple partners like Indo-USA nuclear deal, Oil import from Middle East etc. Further, one can see a heightened focus on developing renewable and alternative sources of energy, particularly nuclear, solar and wind. Yet the bitter truth is that presently India is heavily dependent on imported oil.

India’s oil import bill for financial year 2021-22 has doubled against previous year, and it’s natural gas import bill have risen by 61%. It paid USD 82.4 billion for the crude oil in first three quarters,till December 2021, as opposed to around USD 39.6 billion for the same period year before,a jump of 108%. Russia-Ukraine conflict has been the primary reason for the surge in crude prices, which soared to a 14-year high of USD 140 a barrel on March 7, 2022. Amidst this, India has continued to import oil from Russia, and seems to be a target of negative campaign.

India gets bulk of its oil imported from middle east, around 8% from the USA, and in the past maybe less than 1% from Russia. “When the oil prices are high it is natural for countries to go out in the market and look for what are ‘good deals’ for their people,” said External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar. He added, “We have seen for sometime what looks like a campaign on this issue. I was reading a report. Europe has bought 15% of more oil and gas from Russia than it did a month before. If you look at the major buyers of oil and gas from Russia, I think you will find most of them are in Europe.” Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman has also hit back saying, “why shouldn’t we buy cheap oil from Russia. We need to take care of our national security.” She also said the decision of continuously buying discounted oil from Russia has been taken keeping India’s overall interest in mind, ‘If the fuel is available at a discount, why shouldn’t I buy it?’ Reaffirming India’s position on continuing trade with its all weather friend Russia, despite the western sanctions on it, Finance Minister said, we need to protect our own interest.

It is common knowledge that India’s fragile energy security is under severe strain due to its dependence on imported oil, where monopolies and opaqueness reign. The growth aspirations of this young nation has seen long term increase of energy demand, which has been around 3.6 % pa over the past 30 years, and is likely to grow faster. In this backdrop, the impact of simmering Russia-Ukraine crisis has rightly been summed up by EAM when he says, “I think the real problems are still to come certainly for our part of the world. The financial world is disrupted, the logistics world is disrupted & markets are in turmoil. All of this is going to have consequences on rest of the world.”

Movement for Exam Stress Management

‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’ is part of the larger movement – ‘Exam Warriors’ – led by the Prime Minister to create a stress-free atmosphere for youngsters by bringing together students, parents, teachers and the society to foster an environment where the unique individuality of each child is celebrated fully. The event is preceded by ‘Pradhan Mantri – Mentorships’ Scheme for Young writers (PM-YUVA), a creative programme to further ignite their passion for excellence. It was organized by the Ministry of Education for young writers up to the age of 30 years. For the first time, Raj Bhawans of all the states and UTs had also been connected virtually in the programme and the selected students were awarded with the special kits by the state Governors.

Education is a subject of concurrent list. In a unique departure from the past, PM Modi has often been seen stressing on the need to leverage co-operative & competitive federalism to achieve all round growth. And mass events like Pariksha Pe Charcha, PM’s direct interaction with winners of Bal Puruskar awards, and his messages to students through Exam warriors book and often through his monthly radio program Mann Ki Baat, are connecting government and administration with young minds and seekers at grass-root level. These efforts are resulting in enormous churning in terms of strengthening the role of the centre and its efforts of heading towards ‘Cooperative Federalism’, centre’s new vision which aims to empower different states equally with boost to Federalism.

India is a diverse country and is rightly focussing on nurturing the unique talent and skill-development and entrepreneurship among youth as it also tries to make people aware of unknown leverages they have but fail to recognise, like the power of language, culture, food, local history and speciality, hyperlocal tourism, power of regional arts, traditional dances and games, local traditions and regional attractions, etc. and building on it in the advanced digital way. NEP 2020 offers a plethora of such opportunities as it focuses on developing both soft skills and technological engagement and learning. PM Modi stressed on the importance of skill along with knowledge, highlighting why skilling has been included as a part of the National Education Policy. He also underlined the flexibility provided by NEP in the choice of subjects, saying proper implementation of NEP will open up new avenues in life and career. He urged schools all over the country to find new ways to implement the new technologies invented by the students.

When PM says, ‘Appear for the exams in a festive mood without any stress and treat technology as an opportunity, not as a challenge”, he doesn’t limit himself to just guiding lakhs of students for their immediate examinations, but try to prepare them for life by injecting into them elements of flexibility, adaptability, acceptance and a clear realization of life. It’s a fact, substantiated by the experts from top notch health institutions that emotional quotient is the key to success in this very fast changing age. Being emotionally healthy promotes productivity and effectiveness and plays an important part in maintaining cordial relationships with all kinds of forces touching upon our life, which is crucial for the all round development of the children. Good mental health helps us cope up with adversity which has amply been reflected by Covid-19.

Clearly, the Prime Minister in a stretch addressed several issues which have far reaching ramifications for the education, social, psychological and economic life of crores of people including students. He also referred to the new educational policy policy at the same time. When he says, “Daughter is the strength of the family. What can be better than seeing our nari shakti excel in different sectors of life”, he gives out a strong message for their educational and economic empowerment, which is a must for the formation of a knowledge based 21st century economy and society.