Technology can help in speedy delivery of justice to the common man, said NR Narayana Murthy, founder, Infosys, here on Friday.

Speaking at the third VR Venkatakrishnan memorial lecture on ‘The Indian Judicial System - The musings of a lay person, Murthy said courtroom productivity is one of the major challenges the Indian judicial system is facing.

"But IT can enhance productivity of justice system in India to ensure that a common man can get timely and affordable justice,” he said.

There are almost 27.9 million cases pending at district and lower level courts. Of the total cases, around 60 per cent of cases are pending for more than two years and close 40 per cent pending for over five years.

The cost of litigation is not affordable as well. For instance, a lawyer from district court charges between Rs 10,000-25,000 while a Supreme Court lawyer can charge between Rs 5 lakh-Rs 20 lakh per appearance.

Murthy said latest technologies such as AI, machine learning, bots, blockchain and natural language processing could be of immense help.

"We already have Case Information System 3.0 in place at the Supreme Court as a knowledge base for building knowledge base,” he pointed out. This knowledge base can then be used for building expert system based on technology that can help solve cases based on logical and mathematical reasoning.

For a common man to receive speedy justice at an affordable cost, there is also a need for cultural change. “There are many cases based on opinion. Such cases should not be admitted,” Murthy said.

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