The Supreme Court of India earlier this week raised alarms about the growing use of artificial intelligence to generate fake case citations in court filings. It warned that relying on such AI‑produced authorities may constitute misconduct and attract legal sanctions.

In one cited instance, a lawyer presented a non‑existent judgment titled Mercy vs Mankind to support an argument. The court noted the case had been invented by an AI model and asked the Bar Council of India to constitute a committee of experts to examine the use of fabricated citations and AI‑generated case law in matters where judgments allegedly relied on made‑up law.

Similar problems have surfaced abroad; in the United States, a New York legal team was fined $5,000 after filing a brief that referenced six nonexistent cases in Mata v. Avianca. Indian lawyers Ritwik Saha and Apar Gupta told NDTV that the issue stems from automation bias, where users treat fluent AI output as authoritative, violating the non‑delegable duty of advocates under the Advocates Act.

Generative AI systems predict the next word based on patterns rather than retrieving verified facts, producing plausible‑sounding but false legal references. The Bar Council of India is expected to convene the expert committee shortly to review safeguards and issue guidance on AI use in legal practice.