Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on April 1 said that in the era of digital transformation, the interplay between law and technology can result in better crime detection and also ensure criminal justice reform.
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Justice Chandrachud made the remarks while delivering the 20th D.P. Kohli Memorial Lecture on ‘Adopting Technology to Advance Criminal Justice’, on the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Raising Day.
Sounding a cautionary note, he said: “From issues of jurisdiction and privacy to questions of accountability and transparency, the integration of technology into our criminal justice system requires careful consideration of the ethical, legal, and societal implications at play.”
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“In embracing the capabilities of technology, we reaffirm our commitment to the principles of fairness, equity, and accountability. By leveraging these tools responsibly and ethically, we ensure that the benefits of technological advancement reach all members of society, regardless of their background or circumstances. However, it is imperative to prioritise ethical considerations in the utilisation of these technologies,” said Justice Chandrachud.
AI safeguards
He called for clear guidelines and safeguards to prevent misuse or abuse of Artificial Intelligence and other advanced technologies, safeguard privacy rights, and address biases that might inadvertently arise.
Stating that probe agencies should keep up with radical changes in crime in a digitally connected world, the Chief Justice said the global nature of crime also necessitated extensive coordination and collaboration with counterparts abroad, which could slow down the investigative process, apart from modern tools of investigation.
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He recommended multidisciplinary teams consisting of law enforcement officers and domain experts, including data analysts, to deal with such cases. “The CBI can be upgraded by reassessing the challenges of our changing times and by making structural reforms in the CBI,” he said.
Under the auspices of the Department of Personnel and Training, he said the agency had undergone significant reforms, at the centre of which was the setting up of the Network for Evidence Tracing, Research, and Analysis (NETRA) Lab. “...NETRA represents a leap forward in CBI’s ability to analyse electronic evidence, including mobile devices, cloud storage, and e-Discovery... plays a crucial role in expediting the investigation process and delivering justice swiftly and efficiently,” said the CJI.
Justice Chandrachud said the new criminal laws enacted recently by Parliament encompassed substantive crime, procedure and evidence, which aimed at digitising various aspects of criminal procedure, a significant step towards modernising the justice system.
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Main concerns
The Chief Justice flagged two main concerns related to digital transformation, the first being the risk of individuals without Internet access or technological proficiency getting excluded. “Thus, there is a pressing need to ensure that the benefits of digitisation are equitably distributed and that mechanisms are in place to address the digital divide. Secondly, particular attention must be paid to the digitalisation of foundational processes such as the filing of FIRs to streamline and trace back the sequence of events and enhance transparency from the outset,” he said.
He said investigations should be synchronised with court procedures for effective and time-bound prosecutions. Given the complex nature of investigations undertaken by the CBI, he said, the courts had a herculean task of “de-complexification of the case and ensuring that the parameters of the law are followed to dispense justice”.
“Our challenges today and tomorrow require an institutional commitment; a commitment which requires dedicated finance to upgrade infrastructure, synergies between different wings of the criminal justice administration; and calibrated strategies to train all the personnel to understand the rapid changes in the environment,” he said.
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He suggested that a multi-pronged approach be adopted to integrate technology with court procedures, in order to ensure that the severity of accusation coupled with excessive delays in CBI courts do not translate to a presumption of guilt.
The CJI said a virtual court model had recently been developed by the e- Committee of the Supreme Court. When implemented as a pilot project, it would enable simultaneous conversion of speech into text. “A mobile application could be designed with predefined timelines corresponding to different stages of investigation or trial...it should include an alert system to notify relevant parties when approaching deadlines are imminent,” he said.
Speaking about the technological tools of investigation, the CJI said advanced data analytics was used by probe agencies to navigate through vast amounts of information, uncovering patterns, and connections that might otherwise remain concealed. In homicide investigations, forensic experts in the U.S. utilised advanced DNA analysis techniques to match genetic material found at the crime scene with a suspect.
The CJI said AI stood out as a game-changer. An identification tool in the U.S. had helped identify over 17,000 children, who had fallen victim to sex trafficking, resulting in a 63% reduction in the investigation time. “...however, we must acknowledge that AI is not free of prejudice and biases. Because of skewed data, AI may lead to community-based profiling of marginalised social groups as having more crimes...,” he said.
He also said there was a need to maintain the delicate balance between search and seizure powers, and individual privacy rights stood at the cornerstone of a fair and just society. A petition was recently filed in the Supreme Court highlighting the absence of well-defined legal frameworks governing the procedures for electronic device searches and seizures. The Supreme Court directed Union agencies to adhere to the 2020 CBI (Crime) Manual on Digital Evidence until formal guidelines were established.