Punjab and Haryana HC bars judicial officers from using AI tools to write judgments

A letter issued by the high court registrar-general noted that any violation of these instructions will be viewed seriously.

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked judicial officers not to use AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot to write judgments and conduct legal research.

A letter issued by the high court registrar-general on Monday to all district and sessions judges in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh stated that the Chief Justice has asked them "to direct the judicial officers working under your control not to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, including but not limited to ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Meta, et cetera, for writing of judgments and legal research. Any violation of these instructions will be viewed seriously."

Earlier, the Gujarat High Court had prohibited the use of AI for any form of decision-making, judicial reasoning, order drafting, judgment preparation, bail sentencing considerations, or any substantive adjudicatory process.

According to the Gujarat High Court's AI policy, unveiled at a conference of district judiciary judges on Saturday, artificial intelligence should be used to improve the speed and quality of justice delivery, rather than as a replacement for judicial reasoning.