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AI rules for lawyers, by country · India · Asia Pacific

India: Kerala’s policy, and a Supreme Court draft

Kerala High Court, Policy Regarding Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools in District Judiciary, 19 July 2025 · Supreme Court of India, draft AI regulations, consultation closed 15 July 2026

Page verified 5 August 2026. Recorded from official announcements and Indian legal commentary. Neither document was opened from this session, and the Supreme Court instrument is a draft, which we mark on every mention.

India has one binding judicial AI instrument and one draft, and the distinction matters because both are being cited as though they were the same. The Kerala High Court policy is real and in force. The Supreme Court regulations are still a draft.

Kerala, 19 July 2025

The first High Court in India to issue a formally documented and binding set of guidelines restricting AI use in district and subordinate courts.

  • Assistive onlyAI is defined as purely assistive software. It is categorically prohibited from being used “to arrive at any findings, reliefs, order or judgment”.
  • The judge owns itThe onus for the content and integrity of the judicial order remains entirely on the judge.
  • Approved toolsA dichotomy between general AI tools and “Approved AI Tools” officially screened by the High Court or the Supreme Court. No other instrument on this record maintains a whitelist.
  • ConfidentialityExpress caution that widely used generative AI such as ChatGPT threatens confidentiality.

The approved-tools mechanism is the distinctive contribution. Everywhere else the duty is to verify whatever you used. Kerala restricts what you may use in the first place, which is a different and stricter design.

The Supreme Court draft

The Supreme Court of India circulated draft regulations for the use of artificial intelligence in courts. The consultation was extended from 20 June 2026 and closed on 15 July 2026. As at 5 August 2026 they remain a draft, and nothing on this site treats them otherwise.

Where India sits

India follows the England and Wales architecture rather than the Qatari or Australian one: guidance to the judiciary rather than a practice direction binding filers. That leaves the practitioner question to the court’s inherent powers and to the Bar Council, and it means an Indian advocate’s duty is currently found in professional conduct rules rather than in a rule of court.

What to do about it

Seven days free, then $349 a month. Or run it across the estate.

Kerala restricts which tools may be used and puts the integrity of the order on the judge. Both halves of that are records questions: which tool ran, and who stood behind the output. The same engine either way: a signed record made on your own machine, content-free, and checkable free by anyone, forever.

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Sources

  • Kerala High Court, Policy Regarding Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools in District Judiciary, published 19 July 2025. Not opened from this session.
  • Supreme Court of India, draft regulations on the use of AI in courts; consultation closed 15 July 2026. Draft.
  • Recorded from Indian legal commentary including SpicyIP, S.S. Rana & Co. and The Leaflet. We carry no quotation from either document.

Related

Checked 5 August 2026. Neither instrument read at source; the Supreme Court instrument is a draft. Information, not legal advice, and not advice on Indian law.

Common questions

Does India have rules on AI in courts?

At High Court level, yes. On 19 July 2025 the Kerala High Court published its Policy Regarding Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools in District Judiciary, the first formally documented and binding set of guidelines in India restricting AI use in district and subordinate courts. The Supreme Court of India has separately circulated draft regulations, which remain in draft.

What does the Kerala High Court AI policy say?

AI is defined as purely assistive. It is categorically prohibited from being used to arrive at any findings, reliefs, order or judgment, and the onus for the content and integrity of a judicial order remains entirely on the judge. It also distinguishes between general AI tools and 'Approved AI Tools' screened by the High Court or the Supreme Court, and cautions that widely used generative AI such as ChatGPT threatens confidentiality.

Are the Supreme Court of India's AI regulations in force?

No. They are draft. The consultation was extended and closed on 15 July 2026. Anyone citing them as binding is wrong, and we mark them as draft everywhere they appear on this site.

Do Indian rules apply to lawyers or only to judges?

The Kerala policy is directed at the district judiciary, meaning judges and court staff, rather than at practitioners filing documents. That is the same architecture as England and Wales, where the judiciary's guidance addresses judges and the enforcement route against practitioners has been the court's inherent jurisdiction.

Information, not legal advice, and not advice on the law of any jurisdiction. Every entry is verified against the issuing body’s own document; where a source is reporting rather than the document, we say so.