Automated processes are being established to ensure enhanced transparency and efficiency in judicial affairs of the state.
Kerala High Court. (Supplied)
In what is claimed to be a first in India, the Kerala High Court will, starting Monday, 10 July, introduce a new module that will involve “machine scrutiny” of bail applications.
The module will partially automate the process of checking whether proper guidelines and procedures have been followed in the filing of bail applications. The system, which will streamline the checking process, will be implemented on a trial basis from Monday.
A notice in this regard was circulated among all stakeholders by P Krishna Kumar, registrar general of the Kerala High Court.
Traditionally, the scrutiny of bail applications has been carried out manually by Filing Scrutiny Officers, who carefully examine each application to ensure compliance with established procedures.
However, with the introduction of the new module — developed by the Information and Technology Wing of the court — this process will now be partially automated.
Starting Monday, applicants will have the option to choose between “Auto Scrutiny”, where the bail application will be examined using the newly developed module, or “Scrutiny by Filing Scrutiny Officer”, where the usual process will be followed.
Bail applications that do not adhere to the prescribed guidelines will be flagged by the machine as invalid and segregated accordingly.
“The high court’s IT Wing has developed a module for the machine scrutiny of bail applications. It will be implemented on a trial basis from 10 July,” confirmed Thushara Bhaskar, assistant public relations officer at the high court.
“The trial period will allow the high court to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the machine scrutiny module. Based on the results and feedback received during this period, a decision will be made regarding the mandatory implementation of machine scrutiny for all bail applications,” Bhaskar told South First.
“If successful, it is proposed that the system will become mandatory from 1 August,” she added.
Asked the need was felt for such automation, Bhaskar said: “By automating the scrutiny process, the Kerala High Court aims to reduce human errors, improve accuracy, and speed up the overall bail application procedure.”
“The introduction of the module is part of the digital transformation efforts in the judicial sector, aiming to enhance transparency and efficiency,” said Bhaskar.
The latest innovation comes close on the heels of the high court and district courts in the state adopting a translation tool called Anuvadini.
The an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered tool was developed by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) under the Ministry of Education.
The purpose of this tool is to translate court judgements into Malayalam.
The Anuvadini tool has already successfully translated over 317 high court judgements and 5,136 district court judgements from English to Malayalam. These translated judgements have been uploaded on the respective court websites, according to a press release.
The press release also mentioned a proposal to share the translated versions of the judgements with the Legal Service Authority. The aim is to use these translations to educate and raise awareness about the law among various government departments, litigants, and other stakeholders.
“Through these steps, the High Court of Kerala has ensured access to justice to all, and increased transparency. And this will also help to ensure that court orders and judgements are more widely disseminated which can help to promote awareness of the law,” the release said.
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