Gujarat HC bars AI use in decision-making, judgment drafting

Gujarat High Court bans AI in judicial decision-making, emphasizing human supremacy in justice and safeguarding judicial independence.

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

According to the high court’s AI policy, unveiled on Saturday (April 4, 2026) at a conference of district judiciary judges in Gujarat, AI should be used to improve the speed and quality of justice delivery, rather than as a replacement for judicial reasoning.

As per the policy, these technologies “carry substantial risks — including hallucinations, bias, confidentiality breaches, and erosion of judicial independence — that must be managed with care and institutional discipline”.

It says that by confining AI to the narrowest conceivable role, purely anonymised, metadata-driven case allocation and research of legal principles, “human supremacy in justice delivery is reaffirmed and limited technological assistance is harnessed to reduce administrative imbalances that might otherwise delay access to justice”.

“Broadly, Artificial Intelligence shall not be used — directly or indirectly — for any aspect of judicial decision, adjudication, reasoning, application of law, interpretation of facts, weighing of arguments, determination of rights/liabilities, sentencing, bail, interim orders, or final judgment,” as per the policy document.

Also, AI shall not be used to find facts, law, or operative order in any judicial proceeding, nor shall it be used for sorting, classification of evidence, organisation of evidentiary material, or any task involving evaluation or categorisation of proof, it says.