Hyderabad: India is expanding the use of digital tools to address challenges created by manipulated or fabricated electronic content. Courts now handle a rising number of cases involving identity theft, cheating by personation and obscene or harmful digital material. These cases fall under the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 202Courts also recognise that altered digital records may influence public perception and create wider risks.
Stronger legal safeguards for electronic evidence
Lawmakers have introduced new measures to strengthen safeguards around digital content. Amendments to the Information Technology Act and new criminal laws notified in 2023 reinforce procedures for handling electronic evidence. The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 further requires authentication certificates for electronic records under Section 6This rule ensures more reliable verification of digital material and reduces disputes over authenticity.
Digital reforms expand transparency and court accessibility
As part of the eCourts Mission Mode project, courts live-stream proceedings to improve transparency. They also publish authentic judgments on the Judgement Search Portal. Meanwhile, Phase III of the eCourts project—worth Rs 7,210 crore—upgrades ICT systems to make justice delivery more accessible, reliable and productive. Within this phase, officials allocated Rs 53.57 crore to future technologies such as AI and blockchain to enhance user experience.
Judiciary explores AI while retaining strict human oversight
The Supreme Court’s Artificial Intelligence Committee is studying ways to integrate AI into judicial operations. However, courts have not issued any formal guidelines so far. AI tools remain in controlled pilot stages and operate strictly within approved project boundaries. The judiciary acknowledges key challenges, including algorithmic bias, language gaps, data privacy and the need for human verification of AI-generated content.
A dedicated sub-committee of six High Court judges and technical experts is working on secure connectivity, authentication protocols and data protection under the eCourts framework. Two AI tools—LegRAA and Digital Courts 2.1—are currently in pilot use. They assist judges with research, document analysis, voice-to-text and translation tasks. The eCommittee reports no systemic bias or unintended content during the pilot phase so far.
