Kerala High Court mandates all courts in State to adopt AI tool to record witness depositions

The Kerala High Court has directed all courts in the State to adopt “Adalat.AI”, a speech-to-text transcription tool, for the recording of witness depositions.

Earlier, witness depositions were recorded in writing by the presiding judge in each court or on their dictation in open court or by the court typist/computer operator at the direction of the presiding judge.

With a view to reduce delays and modernise court processes, recording of witness depostitions using Adalat.AI was introduced on a pilot basis in four trial courts in Ernakulam district from February 1 this year.

It has now been decided to extend the mandatory use of Adalat.AI to all courts in the State with effect from November 1.

The High Court, via an office memorandum dated September 27, issued the following directions in this regard:

1. With effect from November 1, witness depositions shall primarily be recorded using the Adalat AI Voice-to-Text Transcription Tool. In case of any technical difficulty with the Adalat AI platform/tool, courts may seek approval to use any other platform/tool and shall use only the transcription platform/tool duly approved by the Directorate of IT, High Court, ensuring data security and confidentiality.

2. Once the deposition has been duly recorded, endorsed and signed, it shall be uploaded to the District Court Case Management System (DCMS) when the uploading facility is made available. This process will ensure that depositions are readily accessible to the parties and lawyers through their respective dashboards.

3. Nodal Officers in each district shall oversee the implementation of these guidelines and include, in their monthly Action Taken Reports, comprehensive details regarding the mode of recording witness depositions in all courts and tribunals in their district.

4. Any suggestions/ requirements/ issues or requests for training regarding the 'Adalat.AI' platform/tool can be addressed directly to Adalat.AI (Mail address: support@adalat.ai), with a copy marked to eCourt Cell, High Court (Mail address: ecc.kerala@nic.in).