The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday voiced strong concern over what it described as a disturbing rise in petitions drafted with artificial intelligence tools. The bench headed by Surya Kant and comprising BV Nagarathna and Joymalya Bagchi observed that several such AI-generated pleas were now citing non-existent judicial decisions, raising serious questions about the integrity of legal drafting.
The bench expressed alarm after encountering fabricated citations like the imaginary case titled "Mercy vs Mankind". Justice Nagarathna noted that she recently came across this non-existent judgment while hearing a matter. The Chief Justice recalled a similar incident in the court of Dipankar Datta, stating that "not one but a series of such judgements were cited", all of which turned out to be fake.
Bench critical of lawyers relying on AI
"We are alarmed to reflect that some lawyers have started using AI to draft petitions. It is absolutely uncalled for," the bench said. The judges warned that such practices not only mislead the court but also pose risks to the credibility of legal proceedings. Justice Nagarathna added that even when the cited judgements are genuine, some petitions contain "fake quotes" attributed to those verdicts, which forces judges to spend additional time verifying basic facts. "It creates an additional burden on the part of the judges," she remarked.
Case context: PIL hearing on political speech
The observations were made during the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by academician Roop Rekha Verma, who sought guidelines on political speeches. Though the PIL dealt with a separate issue, the bench seized the opportunity to address what it called an alarming trend surfacing in court filings.
Decline in legal drafting skills worries SC
Expressing further concern, Justice Bagchi lamented the fading quality of traditional legal drafting. He pointed out that many special leave petitions today are overloaded with lengthy extracts from previous judgements, leaving little room for original reasoning or structured legal argumentation. The court observed that such practices weaken the clarity and integrity of legal submissions.
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