A Data Science Approach to Calcutta High Court Judgments: An Efficient LLM and RAG-powered Framework for Summarization and Similar Cases Retrieval

Abstract: The judiciary, as one of democracy's three pillars, is dealing with a rising amount of legal issues, needing careful use of judicial resources. This research presents a complex framework that leverages Data Science methodologies, notably LLMs (LLM) and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) techniques, to improve the efficiency of analyzing Calcutta High Court verdicts. Our framework focuses on two key aspects: first, the creation of a robust summarization mechanism that distills complex legal texts into concise and coherent summaries; and second, the development of an intelligent system for retrieving similar cases, which will assist legal professionals in research and decision making. By fine-tuning the Pegasus model using case head note summaries, we achieve significant improvements in the summarization of legal cases. Our two-step summarizing technique preserves crucial legal contexts, allowing for the production of a comprehensive vector database for RAG. The RAG-powered framework efficiently retrieves similar cases in response to user queries, offering thorough overviews and summaries. This technique not only improves legal research efficiency, but it also helps legal professionals and students easily acquire and grasp key legal information, benefiting the overall legal scenario.