Chandigarh, Aug 2 (PTI) Supreme Court judge Surya Kant on Saturday emphasised that technology can break barriers and bring legal aid to the doorstep of every citizen and said if harnessed inclusively, it can bridge persistent gaps in the judicial system.

The digital divide is very real, he said and asserted that "the task before us is not simply to create digital solutions, but to ensure that these solutions are inclusive".

Justice Kant was delivering the 'Justice R C Lahoti Memorial Lecture' at Manav Rachna University in Haryana's Faridabad on the topic of 'Bridging the Gap: Reimagining Legal Aid in the Digital Age for Inclusive Justice in India.' Noting that Article 39A of the Constitution calls upon the state to provide free legal aid to ensure that no citizen is denied justice because of economic or other disabilities, he said India is among the few nations to constitutionally mandate legal aid.

"Yet, the stark truth is that vast sections of our population -- rural citizens, the urban poor, women, children, persons with disabilities, the elderly -- still encounter formidable barriers in accessing justice," observed Justice Kant.

He said these may be barriers of awareness, geography, language, money, physical mobility or social stigma.

"Legal aid, as we have conceived it for decades, has often been limited to the provision of free or subsidised legal representation," he said.

"More than seven decades since Independence, we must ask: Is justice truly accessible to all? For millions across India -- migrant workers, tribal communities, daily wage earners, women abandoned by families, undertrial prisoners -- the legal system remains distant and unintelligible," he said.

Access is hampered not only by poverty but also by illiteracy, gender, caste, and now, digital exclusion, said Justice Kant.

Citing his recent visit to Srinagar for the launch of some National Legal Services Authority schemes, he said a young tribal boy shared the hardships his community continues to face despite many schemes and welfare measures.

"What he said has stayed with me: that all the welfare schemes will remain ineffective until the tribal families get sustenance so that they can afford to send their children to school and get the basic education that may qualify them to take advantage of benefits like reservations in employment.

"His words were a poignant reminder that justice and welfare must begin with the fundamentals, without which empowerment remains incomplete," he said.

Justice Kant said the current framework -- rooted predominantly in brick-and-mortar models of service delivery -- faces inherent limitations and said in this context, the digital revolution presents a compelling opportunity.

Justice Kant said the digital age has transformed how we live, communicate, learn and interact with institutions. "Technology is not a panacea, but it is an extraordinary enabler. India today has nearly 1.2 billion mobile connections, and approximately 85.5 per cent of households possess at least one smartphone," he said.

Yet, access to justice remains largely analogue, he said, adding that courts are online, laws are also digitised, but quality legal aid has yet to trickle down to the last person in line.

"The digital divide has become the new face of inequality. But herein lies the opportunity. With the right vision and safeguards, technology can break geographical barriers, democratise legal awareness, and bring legal aid to the doorstep, or rather the palm of every citizen.

"If harnessed thoughtfully and inclusively, it can bridge the persistent gaps in our justice system," he said.

Noting that in the country, mobile phone penetration far surpasses internet-equipped computers, he said NALSA's legal literacy programmes must be recast for the digital age.

"Imagine a NALSA 'Companion' mobile application, offering step-by-step guidance, accessible in every scheduled language, using voice, video, and text. It could answer fundamental legal queries, explain rights and entitlements, and connect the users to volunteer lawyers or paralegals," he said.

"Pre-recorded legal advice via interactive voice response can serve the visually impaired or illiterate. Artificial Intelligence can simplify legal documents, translate orders into regional languages," he said.

He said virtual Lok Adalats should also become a reality by harnessing secure video platforms.

"Case hearings, especially for family disputes, minor civil issues, labour disputes, can happen with minimum travel and cost, saving litigants time and resources.

"Artificial intelligence, if ethically and transparently deployed, can be another game-changer in helping screen cases, prioritise urgent needs, and even generate first-level documents," he said.

He also shared that in remote villages of Assam, paralegals are now using mobile phones to record testimonials of domestic violence and connect survivors to pro bono counsel in real time.

"During the pandemic, virtual Lok Adalats in Maharashtra disposed of thousands of cases, helping workers recover unpaid wages without stepping outside their homes. In Tamil Nadu, legal aid chatbots in Tamil have been deployed to answer questions on land rights and tenancy," he said.

While discussing the untapped potential of technology, Justice Kant cautioned that the excitement of technology must be tempered with restraint.

Stating that digital legal aid cannot succeed if citizens are unfamiliar with basic technology, he emphasised that this is the right time for all the stakeholders, including educational institutions, to launch mass campaigns on digital literacy, prioritising women, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and rural youth.

He also said confidentiality and security are extremely non-negotiable aspects of the digital legal aid programme and said, "As we digitise legal aid, we must design systems with built-in ethics." "Privacy must be paramount; all platforms handling sensitive legal data must comply with rigorous data protection standards. Digital legal aid platforms must be built to serve persons with disabilities, those who use screen readers, and the digitally less literate," he said.

"Legal aid cannot become a factory of canned responses. It must not reduce people's problems to ticket numbers. There must always be a human fallback, someone to listen, explain, and reassure. Justice must still listen," he stressed.

He further said the role of government and the judiciary as catalysts cannot be overstated.

"With ongoing digital initiatives such as Digitally Accessible India, the JAM (Jan-Dhan, Aadhaar, Mobile) trinity, and the e-Courts Mission Mode Project, the groundwork is being laid for comprehensive justice reform. To fully realise these ambitions, these government-led digital strategies must converge with justice sector reforms.

Meanwhile, the judiciary must remain adaptable, continually updating procedures to seamlessly incorporate digital evidence, remote testimony and electronic records, said the Supreme Court judge.

He said that through such collaborative synergy, "we can bring the promise of inclusive digital justice closer to reality". PTI CHS VSD RT RT

Digital legal aid can bridge access barriers when paired with inclusion, privacy safeguards and human fallback mechanisms. Digital technology can extend constitutional legal aid obligations by overcoming geographic, economic, language and mobility barriers. Proposed measures include a mobile-first NALSA companion app with multilingual voice, video and text support, IVR services for the visually impaired, AI-assisted document simplification and case triage, virtual Lok Adalats on secure video platforms, and mobile-enabled paralegals linking survivors to counsel. These interventions must be paired with targeted digital literacy campaigns, built-in accessibility and data-protection safeguards, and a mandatory human fallback, while government digital initiatives and judicial procedures converge to enable digital evidence and remote testimony.