Bengaluru: An AI assistant helps courts identify pending cases that may be suitable for early resolution through mediation or Lok Adalat. This innovative idea with a real-world touch helped a team of four students from IIIT-Bangalore win the Inclusive Innovation for Bharat track at Ideas for India Innovation Challenge 2026.The team, comprising Harshit Khattar, Aarush Gupta, Utkarsh Gupta and Adarsh Singh, observed that some disputes may be resolved earlier through alternative resolution mechanisms, but identifying suitable cases requires an assessment of their individual facts and circumstances. The solution screens pending cases, identifies those that may be suitable for mediation or Lok Adalat and explains the reasons behind its recommendations.The platform, Nyaya Setu, cannot override legal requirements, and the committee retains the final decision-making authority. For Aarush Gupta, the idea grew from the possibility of resolving disputes without lengthy court proceedings. “When I looked at how many disputes sit in court for years, even though they could be settled through mediation, we wanted to change that. I believe justice should be faster and easier to reach,” he said.Harshit Khattar said, “Behind crowded courts are ordinary citizens with disputes that never belonged there. We built Nyaya Setu to bridge this divide, turning legal AI into an accessible front door for alternative dispute resolutions.”The development process also gave the students an opportunity to apply their technical learning to a real-world challenge. Utkarsh Gupta said, “Built for almost 5 crore pending district court cases, it also taught me how to clean large datasets.”
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