AI-powered PALETTE Centre takes aim at India’s judicial backlog: BITS Law School Dean Ashish Bharadwaj
The Centre was born from a long-standing issue that continues to erode public trust—namely, the overwhelming backlog and inefficiencies in our legal system.
In response to India's mounting judicial backlog and a legal system often seen as slow and opaque, BITS Law School—under the aegis of BITS Pilani—recently launched the PALETTE Centre (Professional Advancement in Law Through Executive Training & Technical Education) in collaboration with PanScience Innovations. Headquartered in Mumbai, the Centre seeks to integrate AI, modern tools, and executive skilling into the legal ecosystem. In this exclusive conversation with Hindustan Times Digital, Dr. Ashish Bharadwaj, Founding Dean of BITS Law School, explains how PALETTE aims to bridge the gap between technology and justice, rebuild public trust, and prepare legal professionals to lead the transformation, rather than be disrupted by it.
What was the need for establishing the PALETTE Centre?
The Centre was born from a long-standing issue that continues to erode public trust—namely, the overwhelming backlog and inefficiencies in our legal system. People’s faith in justice is shaped by how accessible, timely, and transparent the process feels. Unfortunately, that’s often not the case.
We all know about the pendency crisis and the shortage of judges. When a judicial system in a democracy is overburdened, it undermines public confidence in democratic processes themselves. That’s where PALETTE comes in—with the goal of introducing systemic, technology-driven solutions that reduce delays, improve accessibility, and rebuild trust.
We’re deeply aligned with the vision laid out by Chief Justice Chandrachud and others who’ve advocated for using technology to make courts more efficient, affordable and accessible. PALETTE isn’t just about legal tech—it’s about capacity-building across the entire legal ecosystem, from judges and court staff to litigators, law professors, and even non-law students.
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So you mean ‘justice delayed is justice denied’?
Delay is a factor, but it’s far from the whole picture. If the legal process is opaque or frustrating, people lose confidence, regardless of whether the verdict was just. The journey matters.
At PALETTE, we’re trying to change that journey. Our goal is to break the inertia in the system, where things are done just because that’s how they’ve always been done. Through skilling, technology, and new thinking, we want to move the legal system into the 21st century.
There’s a lot of concern about the role of AI in the legal profession. What’s your take? What should students and professionals embrace—or avoid?
That’s a crucial question. Let me answer in two parts.
First, as a faculty member, I’m averse to the idea of introducing AI too early in a student’s life—say, in middle or high school. Early tech exposure, especially through social media, has already shortened attention spans and weakened critical thinking. In fact, Oxford’s Word of the Year in 2024 was “brain rot”—a reflection of this growing concern.
AI should enter the picture between undergraduate and postgraduate levels, when students are cognitively ready. Learning is sequential, and rushing that process can do more harm than good.
Now, as a researcher in intellectual property and patent law, I see how AI can be a game-changer. For instance:
Predictive analytics can forecast outcomes in straightforward cases.
E-filing automation can cut out hours of repetitive data entry.
Defect analysis tools can identify red flags in documents.
Case summarisation can make legal information comprehensible for the public.
If AI can help deliver justice more affordably and quickly, that’s a positive direction.
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Is AI already changing legal education? What shifts are you seeing?
Absolutely. For example, I teach Legal Methods in the first semester. The core concepts—citations, case searches—don’t change. But now, with generative AI, I can curate relevant readings and examples in a fraction of the time.
The challenge lies in teaching students how to use AI responsibly. Many of them unknowingly commit plagiarism when using these tools. At PALETTE, we’ve made transparency a priority. If you’re using ChatGPT or another AI tool, cite the prompt and explain how it shaped your work.
We’re also rolling out AI primers—introductory modules to help students understand what these tools can and cannot do. AI won’t replace teachers. Like calculators or Excel, it’s just another tool—one that should support, not replace, the human element of education.
You’ve raised some concerns about equity. Do you worry AI might widen the digital divide?
Yes, that risk is real.
We already see a global divide—countries like the U.S., China, and Germany are way ahead in AI.
Within India, geography, caste, gender, and digital access continue to define distinct realities that coexist within the same national framework.
But I also see an opportunity. At PALETTE, we’re offering this new tool, new technology, new set of solutions to students, law schools, policy schools, and liberal arts schools in a different setup of carefully curated workshops and capacity-building programs.
We’re also working with select courts offering our tech pro bono. The real transformation will happen when courts themselves begin to adopt these tools at scale.
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Will AI and centres like PALETTE replace legal jobs—or create new ones?
Let’s be honest: any task that’s repetitive and rules-based is at risk of automation. Paralegal work, document review—these might shrink. But legal roles requiring creativity, judgment, or courtroom advocacy? Those aren’t going anywhere.
At the same time, entirely new roles will emerge—AI ethics advisors, legal data analysts, tech-integrated dispute resolution experts. That’s where PALETTE plays a key role: we’re not just preparing people to survive change, but to lead it.
