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The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday raised concerns about the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in drafting court petitions, after it came across cases where lawyers had cited judgments and quotations that either were found to be non-existent or inaccurate.

 

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and BV Nagarathna, said the Court was increasingly noticing pleadings that appeared to have been generated using AI tools without proper verification.

 

“We have been alarmingly told that some lawyers have started using AI for drafting,” CJI Kant noted during the hearing. Justice Nagarathna recalled an instance where a fictitious judgment had been cited before the court. “There was a case of Mercy vs Mankind which does not exist,” she said.

 

CJI Kant also added that similar issues had come up in case before Justice Dipankar Datta, where the the law relied upon was found to be fabricated. “There was something with Justice Dipankar Datta also. All precedents cited never existed,” said CJI Kant. Justice Nagarathna further pointed out that even where real judgments were referred to, the extracts placed before the court were sometimes incorrect.

 

“Then some are citing real Supreme Court cases, but those quoted portions do not even exist in the judgment,” she said. There was a case of Mercy vs Mankind, which does not exist. The Court’s observations form part of broader concerns within the judiciary on how artificial intelligence was beginning to shape legal work.

 

Last year, the Supreme Court and other courts had come across pleadings and even orders that referred to case laws, which could not be found in official records. This resulted in courts issuing repeated reminders about the need for accuracy and proper verification.

 

Judges have been pointing out that while technology can be helpful for research and managing cases, the final responsibility still lies with lawyers and judges. Courts have made it clear that every citation and legal reference must be checked against authorised sources before being placed on record.