'Let it churn a little more': Delhi High Court judge questions Supreme Court AI disclosure draft

Delhi High Court Justice Prathiba M Singh publicly questioned a draft Supreme Court of India rule that would force lawyers to disclose every time they use AI to draft court filings, telling the International ADR Conference 2026 the requirement would "make lawyers' lives difficult" and risk devolving into "templated affidavits."

Speaking during a Maadhyam-organised fireside chat with Senior Advocate J Sai Deepak on the Future of ADR, AI and Legal Technology, Justice Singh argued that existing obligations under the Commercial Courts Act and e-filing, including OCR of documents, already add paperwork, and that India's adversarial system lets opposing counsel flag inaccurate AI-generated material before the court.

Her remarks land during the public consultation on the Supreme Court's draft Regulations for Use of Artificial Intelligence in Courts, 2026, released in June. The draft would require disclosure when AI helps prepare pleadings, documents, submissions, or evidence, and would let courts ask for details about the system used and the verification steps taken.

The Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association has separately recommended that the Court drop the disclosure requirement. Justice Singh urged a wait-and-see posture, suggesting the rules be allowed to "churn a little more" before any hard duty is imposed. The comment window is still open.