Nyaya Setu: Free Government AI Legal Assistant Dishika Explained

Nyaya Setu is a free government AI assistant that explains your legal rights and next steps in your own language, using voice or text. It was unveiled on 31 March 2026 by the Department of Justice and the Digital India BHASHINI Division, and its official home is the portal at https://nyayasetu.doj.gov.in/ .

If you are short on time: it is a starting point to understand a legal process in plain language, not a replacement for a lawyer or a formal complaint. Read “What Nyaya Setu can and cannot do” below before you rely on any answer it gives.

Most people who reach for tools like this are stuck at the very first step. They do not know which law applies, which office to approach, or what the words on a notice mean. Nyaya Setu is built for exactly that moment. The official mascot, “Dishika”, acts as a friendly digital guide that walks first-time users through legal queries.

The big idea is language. A citizen who is comfortable in Hindi, Tamil or a tribal dialect should not have to read English legalese to understand a court process. Nyaya Setu is voice-first, so you can speak your question and get a spoken or written answer back.

It is owned and built as a turnkey project by the Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD). It was created to show what an end-to-end voice-led legal-help journey can look like in many Indian languages.

Note: Nyaya Setu was unveiled at a government programme, so treat the steps below as the official access route, not a guarantee of every feature being live in your area.

1. Open the official portal at https://nyayasetu.doj.gov.in/ in your browser. This is the only access route confirmed by the Department of Justice. Do not trust look-alike apps or numbers shared on social media.
2. Use voice or text. Nyaya Setu is voice-first, so you can speak your legal question or type it. The system uses BHASHINI speech recognition to understand you.
3. Ask in your own language. The tool is designed to work across multiple Indian languages, so frame the question the way you would say it at home.
4. Read the explanation, then act offline. Use the plain-language answer to understand the process, then file your actual complaint, RTI or court application through the proper office.

Nyaya Setu is built to explain. It helps you understand legal processes, your rights, and the likely next steps. According to the Department of Justice, it is aligned with legal guardrails and trained on frameworks such as the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) so that its answers stay responsible, safe and context-aware.

What it is not: it is not your lawyer, and an answer from a chatbot is not legal advice. It does not file cases, it does not appear in court, and it does not replace a formal application. A general explanation cannot account for the specific facts of your dispute the way a qualified advocate can.

Treat any answer as a first orientation. Before you act on something with a deadline, a penalty, or money at stake, confirm it against the actual law or with a lawyer. This is RTI Wiki guidance, not a limitation stated by the government.

Nyaya Setu was unveiled at the DISHA programme organised by the Department of Justice at Vigyan Bhawan. It was launched by the Vice-President of India, Shri C.P. Radhakrishnan, and the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice, Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal.

The platform itself is built and owned by the Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD). It runs on a complete voice stack that combines BHASHINI speech recognition (ASR), multilingual natural-language processing, and conversational AI.

BHASHINI is India's AI language-technology initiative under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). As of March 2026, BHASHINI reports that its wider platform supports more than 500 government websites, processes over 15 million inferences a day, and offers services across 36 text and 23 voice languages, including tribal dialects. Note: those language counts describe the BHASHINI platform as a whole, not a confirmed list for Nyaya Setu, which the government describes only as working in “multiple Indian languages”.

Nyaya Setu is a doorway, not the destination. Once you understand your issue, you still need a real remedy. If you cannot afford a lawyer, you may qualify for free legal aid through the Legal Services Authorities. See how to apply for a free legal aid lawyer to check your eligibility and the process.

For many money and civil disputes, a faster route is a Lok Adalat, where cases settle by agreement and the award is final. Read Lok Adalat free legal aid and DLSA eligibility and the pre-litigation Lok Adalat application procedure to see whether your dispute fits.

If your problem is that a government office is sitting on your file or ignoring you, the Right to Information Act is your direct lever. A chatbot can explain the idea, but you must file the application yourself. Start with the RTI Act guide and our worked RTI case examples. For a complete step-by-step method, get The RTI Playbook.

Yes. It is a citizen-facing service of the Department of Justice on an official government portal, so there is no fee. Note: “free” is a reasonable reading of a government citizen service; the press release does not state a price. Never pay anyone who claims to sell “premium” access to it.

The Department of Justice describes Nyaya Setu as working across “multiple Indian languages” and being voice-first, so you can speak rather than read. The underlying BHASHINI platform reports support for 36 text and 23 voice languages, including tribal dialects, but that figure is for BHASHINI as a whole. Treat the exact language list for Nyaya Setu as something to confirm on the official portal.

Dishika is the official mascot of Nyaya Setu. It is a friendly digital interface that guides users through their legal queries. Its role is to make the system feel approachable and to build trust, especially for first-time users who find the justice system intimidating.

No. There is a separate application also named “Nyaya Setu” linked to the new criminal laws. This article is strictly about the voice-first AI legal assistant with mascot Dishika that the Department of Justice and BHASHINI unveiled on 31 March 2026. If a tool you found does not match that description, it is a different product.

No. Nyaya Setu explains processes and rights; it does not file anything on your behalf. You must submit your RTI application, complaint or court papers yourself through the proper office or portal. Use the explanation as orientation, then act through the official channel for your matter.

Treat it as a starting point, not a final word. It gives general explanations but cannot weigh the specific facts of your case the way an advocate can. Before acting on anything with a deadline, penalty or money at stake, confirm the position with a lawyer.

• Open https://nyayasetu.doj.gov.in/ and ask your question in plain language, by voice or text.
• Write down the law, section or office name the tool mentions, so you can verify it.
• Check whether you qualify for free legal aid if you cannot afford a lawyer.
• If a government office is the problem, draft an RTI using The RTI Playbook.

• Press Information Bureau, “Nyaya Setu AI Chatbot and Mascot DISHIKA Unveiled at DISHA Programme”, PRID 2247310, 31 March 2026.
• Official portal: https://nyayasetu.doj.gov.in/ (Department of Justice).