Draft Rules Bar Use of AI to Decide Court Outcomes or Profile Witnesses

A committee set up by the Supreme Court has prepared draft rules on how artificial intelligence (AI) may be used inside courts. The preliminary draft, titled the Regulations for Use of Artificial Intelligence in Courts, 2026, was made public on 3 June 2026. Its core principle is that AI tools may only assist judges and court staff and must always remain under human control, never replacing human judgment in deciding cases.

The draft sets clear limits. AI cannot be used to decide judicial outcomes, and any AI-assisted sentencing must have mandatory human oversight. The rules bar AI from profiling parties or witnesses, and they forbid using AI for risk scoring, such as judging flight risk, predicting whether a person may commit another crime, deciding bail eligibility, or rating the credibility of witnesses. Systems that are opaque or cannot explain how they reach a result are not allowed in any court process. AI also cannot be used for constant surveillance of judges, lawyers, or litigants unless a law specifically permits it.

The draft does allow AI for routine administrative work. This includes managing case files, preparing cause lists, scheduling hearings, transcribing proceedings, and translating judgments. Any personal data handled by these systems must follow the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. The rules also state that AI must not create or worsen bias on grounds such as religion, caste, sex, gender, disability, language, or economic status, which are protected under the Constitution. They further warn that AI tools should not widen the digital divide and must stay usable for rural, poor, and linguistically diverse communities.

To oversee how AI is adopted by the judiciary, the draft proposes a full-time apex body at the Supreme Court. It would include Supreme Court and High Court judges nominated by the Chief Justice of India, along with experts in finance, cybersecurity, technology law, and data privacy, and a senior officer from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The committee that prepared the draft has invited comments from the public and stakeholders, with 20 June 2026 set as the deadline for responses.

For aspirants, this topic links the judiciary with technology and data protection. It connects to themes such as the separation of human judgment from automation, the right to a fair trial, algorithmic bias, and the role of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. It is a strong example of how Indian institutions are framing rules for emerging technology before it is widely adopted.