Draft Regulations for Use of AI in Courts, 2026

What happened

On June 3, 2026, the Supreme Court of India issued a notice inviting comments on a preliminary draft of the Regulations for Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Courts, 2026, prepared under its Artificial Intelligence Committee. Comments were due by June 20, 2026. The notice describes the draft as grounded in "human primacy, transparency, accountability, data protection, and judicial independence."

The draft would apply to the use of AI in any judicial, adjudicatory or administrative function of the Supreme Court, the High Courts, "and all Courts including the Tribunals and statutory Commissions performing adjudicatory functions." That reach matters, because the matters in this record from India include tribunal and departmental adjudicators as well as courts.

What was issued or decided

Regulation 20 lists prohibited uses that the draft calls "absolute and non-derogable." They include reaching any judgment, order or finding "through Algorithmic Decision-Making alone or solely on the basis of AI-generated information"; risk scoring, including "determination of the credibility of parties or witnesses"; undisclosed or unexplainable systems in any process that may affect a party's rights or liberty; and submitting "AI-generated output … as an independent source of evidence without full and transparent disclosure of its AI-generated character."

Regulation 43 sets out disclosure duties. Where a party or its lawyer uses an AI tool to prepare or submit any document, pleading or evidence, the AI-assisted character of the material must be disclosed at submission by a declaration or certificate in a prescribed form. The court may require disclosure of "the AI System used, the nature and extent of AI assistance provided, and the steps taken to verify the accuracy of any AI-generated content." A person who submits material found to be fabricated or inaccurate because of its AI-generated character bears full responsibility "and shall not be entitled to rely upon the character of the AI output as a defence."

Where it stands

The draft is not in force. In its September 2, 2026 order in Gadiya v. Union of India, the Supreme Court referred to the draft and stated that "the regulations are yet to be finalised." No final text was located as of October 8, 2026. Because the draft may change, its provisions are described here as proposals, and this entry will be re-checked on the quarterly cycle for rules.

The draft does not use the term expert witness in its disclosure provisions, but its terms cover any evidence prepared with AI assistance, which would include an expert's report. Its disclosure elements, the tool, the extent of use and the verification steps, are the same elements a court in the United States or England would ask an expert about on cross-examination.

How it maps to the Standard

Regulation 43(4) tracks Clause 8 of the Standard, disclosure, and Clause 7, contemporaneous record, closely: a court can only be told which system was used, how far, and how its output was verified if someone kept that record while the work was done. Regulation 43(6), which forecloses the AI output as a defense, is the same principle as Clause 3, independent authority, stated as a rule of responsibility.

The prohibition on outcomes reached by AI alone corresponds to Clause 2, non-delegation. The Standard applies that principle to an expert's opinion; the draft applies it to the court's own decision.

Sources

• Supreme Court of India · June 3, 2026
  Notice and draft Regulations for Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Courts, 2026
• The Leaflet · June 24, 2026
  Explained: The Supreme Court of India's draft Regulations for Use of Artificial Intelligence in Courts, 2026

What could not be confirmed

Only the notice, the Application provision and Regulations 20 and 43 of the 35-page draft were read closely. Whether the regulations have been finalized or revised after the comment period was not located as of 2026-10-08.