SC takes cognisance of trial court relying on AI-generated 'fake' verdicts
The Supreme Court of India has taken serious cognisance of a trial court relying on fictitious, AI-generated judgments in a property dispute Gummadi Usha Rani vs Sure Mallikarjuna Rao declaring such conduct as misconduct , not a mere error of judgment.
A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe issued notices to Attorney General R Venkataramani , Solicitor General Tushar Mehta , and the Bar Council of India , appointing Senior Advocate Shyam Divan as amicus curiae.
The bench emphasized that judges are duty-bound to independently verify legal authorities before placing reliance on them, and while AI may assist legal research, it cannot substitute careful judicial scrutiny .
The controversy began when an Andhra Pradesh trial court dismissed objections to an advocate-commissioner's property report in August 2024, citing judgments that turned out to be AI hallucinations plausible-sounding but entirely fabricated case laws. The Andhra Pradesh High Court acknowledged the fake citations but still decided the case on merits, prompting petitioners to approach the Supreme Court.
The apex court has now stayed further proceedings based on the commissioner's report, with the next hearing scheduled for March 10 . This follows a February 17 warning by Chief Justice Surya Kant over lawyers filing AI-drafted petitions citing invented cases like "Mercy vs Mankind."
India’s courts carry one of the world's heaviest backlogs , with millions of cases pending. Responsibly deployed AI with meaningful human oversight and mandatory citation verification could dramatically accelerate legal research and case processing . The problem lies in unregulated, unverified use, not AI itself.
The hope is that this episode pushes the judiciary toward deliberate adoption rather than outright rejection. With the right guardrails, AI could become a valuable ally in clearing the backlog. Whether India’s legal establishment embraces that future thoughtfully remains to be seen.