Source: LiveLaw

SCAORA submitted Comments and Recommendations on the Draft Regulations for the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Courts, 2026 to Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha, urging a cautious and phased deployment of AI in the judicial system and asking that AI not be used in functions directly affecting litigants until adequate safeguards exist. The Association’s Executive Committee presented the report to Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe; Justice Narasimha acknowledged SCAORA’s efforts and said the recommendations and Draft Regulations would be deliberated upon further. The Supreme Court’s Artificial Intelligence Committee had released the Draft Regulations in June and invited stakeholder comments; SCAORA formed an AI Sub‑Committee that performed a clause-by-clause analysis before submitting its report.

The report’s core recommendations include prohibiting deployment of opaque or “black box” AI systems in high-risk judicial applications and requiring mandatory “human-in-the-loop” and “human-on-the-loop” safeguards for all AI-generated outputs, citing risks of AI hallucinations and referring to the Supreme Court’s approach in Pooja Ramesh Singh v. Jammu & Kashmir Bank Ltd. SCAORA criticises the Draft Regulations’ simultaneous demand for “explainability” and allowance for deployment of opaque systems, calls this the “black box paradox,” and questions how judicial accountability can be enforced when AI reasoning is incomprehensible. The Association also warns of automation bias, recommends restricting AI even in administrative functions that materially influence case outcomes, demands data sovereignty and audits of existing systems (SUPACE, SUVAS, real‑time transcription, AI‑assisted e‑filing, SuSahayak), and flags constitutional and governance concerns including the source of the Draft Regulations’ authority and inadequate Bar representation in governance bodies.