Kerala HC mandates use of AI to record witness depositions in all courts of the state from Nov 1

Kerala has become the first state in the country to mandate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) transcription tools in all courts to record witness depositions.

The new directive, issued by the High Court of Kerala on September 27, will be effective from November 1, 2025.

In an office memorandum issued to all lower Courts of the State, the High Court stated that the use of ‘Adalat.AI’ speech-to-text transcription tool developed by deep-tech startup ‘Adalat AI’ will be mandatory for recording witness depositions to all Courts in the State from next month.

Adalat AI, incubated at MIT and Oxford, based on research conducted at Harvard, specialise in AI and LLM-driven solutions that address the pressing issues of case backlogs, prolonged delays in legal systems, and the ensuing social injustices caused by these delays. In collaboration with courts, the startup is pioneering voice transcription software specifically designed to assist court judges and stenographers.

The memorandum refers to the High Court’s earlier decision introduce the use of the “Adalat.AI” speech-to-text transcription tool for recording of witness depositions in a phased manner across all Courts in the State of Kerala to reduce delays in the process of recording evidence and to modernise the system of recording witness depositions in Trial Courts.

The Court had, on a pilot basis, mandated the recording of depositions using Adalat.AI from February 1, onwards in the Courts of Additional District and Sessions Judge (For trial of cases relating to Atrocities and Sexual violence against women and children), Ernakulam, Additional District and Sessions Judge VII/Addl. MACT, Ernakulam, Principal Munsiff, Ernakulam, and Judicial First Class Magistrate IX, Ernakulam.

The new directive says that from November 1 onwards, 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, the 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, it states.

The memorandum also clarifies that once the deposition has been duly recorded, endorsed and signed, it shall be uploaded to the DCMS when the uploading facility is made available to the respective courts. This process will ensure that depositions are readily accessible to the parties and lawyers through their respective dashboards, it says.

The Nodal Officers in each District have been asked to 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. The report shall specifically mention the total number of Courts, the number of Courts recording witness depositions manually, and the number of Courts utilising voice-to-text transcription tools, the High Court directive said.

Adalat AI claims that its tool, unlike generic, costly alternatives, is finely tuned to a comprehensive lexicon of legal jargon and Indian pronunciations, ensuring accuracy and relevancy in transcribing witness testimonies, court orders, and judgments.