No question of unregulated AI use by judges, says CJI Justice Surya Kant

The Supreme Court declined a plea seeking regulation of AI in courts, saying judges already act with caution and do not allow technology to influence judicial decisions

The Supreme Court on Friday declined to entertain a public interest litigation seeking guidelines to regulate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in judicial proceedings, observing that “there is no question of unregulated use” by judges. A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi took exception to the plea’s premise that AI use in courts was “unregulated” and said judges were already exercising due caution in employing such tools.

 

“There is no question of unregulated use by us. My brothers and sisters on the Bench are very careful. We have repeatedly said we don’t want AI or machine learning to overpower the judicial decision-making process,” the CJI remarked.

 

Senior Advocate Anupam Lal Das, representing petitioner Karthikeya Rawal, argued that AI-generated fake precedents were being cited by lawyers. The CJI responded that such instances likely arose from advocates’ own use of unreliable AI tools and stressed that lawyers must remain vigilant against fabricated material, which violates their professional duty.

 

When the counsel referred to the Supreme Court’s white paper on AI and the Kerala High Court’s recent policy on responsible AI use in the judiciary, the CJI noted that the top court was already aware of, and consulting on, such developments.

 

“You are speaking as if we do not know what is happening in Kerala High Court,” the CJI remarked.

 

The bench allowed the petitioner to withdraw the plea with liberty to submit suggestions to the Supreme Court on its administrative side.

 

“Senior counsel seeks permission to withdraw the matter and is permitted to do so; however, the petitioner may place suggestions before us administratively,” the order recorded.