New Delhi, Oct. 24 -- In an age driven by artificial intelligence, the Supreme Court is turning to natural intelligence to overcome a long-standing problem -- the poor and often inaccurate English translation of judicial records originally written in Indian languages. In a first-of-its-kind move, lawyers will now double up as translators, helping judges ensure the smooth administration of justice. So far, 69 lawyers have been shortlisted by the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) to provide translation services from 13 Indian languages into English. It marks the first time that practising lawyers have been formally engaged and paid separately for translation work. This initiative follows a series of court orders flagging the poor quality of translated judicial records, which often distort meaning and impede justice. Until now, the court relied on around 60-70 official translators on its rolls. However, with their workload increasing, particularly because they now also translate Supreme Court judgments into regional languages, the judges permitted SCAORA to take the lead in building an auxiliary translation pool. Advocate Vipin Nair, President of SCAORA said "the seeds for this initiative were sowed by an order passed by the Supreme Court on March 18 this year where the court requested for assistance from SCAORA". He added that then Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna said "official translators were not available as they were occupied with translation of judgments." Subsequently, Nair said, the Association took up the responsibility and invited applications from interested lawyers. "The response was overwhelming and now we have shortlisted a team of nearly 70 lawyers with proficiency in vernacular language to help with the translation work." The need for accuracy was underscored again in a judgment delivered on October 16, when a bench of justices Sanjay Karol and PK Mishra stressed: "Due care has to be taken to ensure that the true meaning and spirit of the words in the original language are translated into English for the courts in appeal to comprehend what had transpired below." The case before them concerned a property dispute from Maharashtra, where a Muslim widow, Zoharbee, sought her share in her late husband Chand Khan's property under Mohammedan law. Her husband's brother, Imam Khan, opposed the claim, saying the property had already been transferred to a third party. When the bench examined the records, it found that the civil court's judgment was not in English and that the translated version failed to convey the true intent of the original text. Writing for the bench, Justice Karol observed: "In matters of law, words are of indispensable importance. Each word, every comma has an impact on the overall understanding of the matter," He also referred to the March 18 order where a bench led by Justice JK Maheshwari had noted: "The present is not the solitary case and every day we are experiencing such a problem wherein the translations filed by the AoRs are not accurate and correct.in our view, accurate translation is essential for litigant, court and advocate." Following this, on April 15, Nair informed the court that the then CJI had consented to the creation of a pool of lawyers for translation work. On August 14, SCAORA secretary Nikhil Jain issued a communication listing the empanelled lawyers available to translate documents from Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali, Punjabi, Kannada, Telugu, Bhojpuri, Assamese, Odia, Gujarati and Bengali. While SCAORA has clarified that it will not be responsible for the quality of translations, each translator must give a formal undertaking certifying the accuracy of the work, to be appended to every translated document. The association has fixed a fee of Rs.100 per page (legal size), payable directly by lawyers to the translators. "The realtime database of translators will go a long way in ensuring that the documents/annexures that accompany petitions before the Supreme Court meet the highest quality standards, ensure accurate pleadings and enhance the effectiveness of all AORs," the SCAORA communication said. The move coincides with the Supreme Court's continuing effort to leverage AI-based translation tools. Since 2019, the court has been using the Supreme Court Vidhik Anuvaad Software (SUVAS) to translate its judgments into regional languages. The same software is also being used for high court judgments. A committee headed by a Supreme Court judge oversees the translation of important SC and HC judgments into regional languages, with sub-committees in high courts monitoring implementation. The translated judgments are vetted before being uploaded on the e-SCR website....