Prepared by the Supreme Court AI committee, ‘Draft Regulations for Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Courts, 2026’ outlines the framework for the responsible adoption of AI in the Indian judiciary.  

• Application: All judicial, adjudicatory, and administrative functions of the Supreme Court, High Courts, other courts, tribunals, and statutory commissions performing adjudicatory roles in India.

Key Highlights of Draft 

• Objectives:  To demonstrably improve access to justice, reduce delays, and enhance administrative efficiency.
• Guiding Principles: AI deployment must strictly adhere to human primacy, fairness, transparency, and data privacy (under Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023) and Indian Constitution.
  • Judicial officers remain entirely accountable for all decisions.
• Permitted Uses: AI is strictly an assistive tool allowed for administrative tasks, scheduling, legal research, translation, transcription, and accessibility services, subject to human verification.
• Absolute Bans: AI is strictly prohibited from deciding verdicts, evaluating bail or recidivism (risk scoring), predicting human behavior and surveillance (of judges, lawyers, litigants, or stakeholders, unless legally authorized).
• Administration: AI adoption, standards, and policy development will be regulated by a permanent national Apex Body, a research center (CoRE-AI), and dedicated AI Committees at every High Court.
• Compliance & Oversight: AI tools require pre-deployment impact assessments and annual internal audits. 
  • Furthermore, lawyers and litigants must explicitly disclose any use of AI in preparing court documents.
• Digital Inclusion: AI tools must be accessible and should not widen digital divides.