Draft Supreme Court Rules Prohibit Use of AI for Judicial Outcomes and Assessing Bail Eligibility

India's Supreme Court has released a comprehensive draft framework governing the use of artificial intelligence across courts and tribunals nationwide, drawing firm boundaries around how the technology may be deployed in the justice system. The “Regulations for Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Courts, 2026”, prepared under the aegis of the Supreme Court's AI Committee, has been placed in the public domain for comments and suggestions until 20 June 2026. 

The draft framework is anchored in the principle of “human primacy”, stipulating that AI must function solely as an assistive tool and cannot replace the independent exercise of judicial authority. Under the proposed rules, no AI system may adjudicate disputes, pass sentences, determine bail eligibility, predict a person's future conduct, assess recidivism risk, or evaluate witness credibility. Final responsibility for decisions on facts, law and justice would continue to rest with judges and court officials, who likewise cannot rely on AI errors or so-called “hallucinations” to justify incorrect decisions. 

The regulations do, however, permit the deployment of AI for a broad range of judicial and administrative functions. These include legal research, citation verification, document summarisation, automated transcription of court proceedings, translation of judgments and pleadings subject to human verification, hearing scheduling, cause-list preparation, anonymisation of court records, and accessibility services for persons with disabilities. 

To oversee implementation, the proposal envisages a permanent apex AI body at the Supreme Court level, supported by AI Committees and dedicated secretariats across all courts. Annual audits of AI systems, maintenance of AI registers and incident databases, cybersecurity safeguards, compliance with data protection laws, and regular training for judges, lawyers and court staff are also proposed under the framework. The regulations would apply to the Supreme Court, High Courts, subordinate courts, tribunals, and statutory adjudicatory bodies across India. 

READ MORE -> Draft SC Rules Prohibit Use of AI for Judicial Outcomes, Assessing Bail Eligibility | The Hindu 

📰 MINI HEADLINES 

• MeitY Invites Applications for Data Protection Board of India 

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has initiated the process of operationalising the Data Protection Board of India (DPBI), the independent adjudicatory body established under Section 18 of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023. Applications have been invited for one Chairperson and four Members.  

The Board has been designed as a “digital-by-design” institution and will be responsible for investigating personal data breaches, checking compliance with DPDP Rules, and imposing financial penalties on organisations that fail to follow the law. The Chairperson is required to have experience equivalent to an Additional Secretary rank in the Government of India, while Members should have worked at Joint Secretary level or hold equivalent senior experience in the corporate or academic sectors. 

 At least one Member is required to have expertise in law. Appointments carry fixed tenures of up to two years or until the age of 65, whichever is earlier. Applications were to close within 30 days of the advertisement's publication in Employment News. The DPBI is expected to become the principal authority for handling disputes and enforcement under the new data protection regime, with the first rulings potentially arriving later in 2026. 

READ MORE- MeitY Invites Applications for Data Protection Board of India | Storyboard18 

• Apple's New Child Account Feature Raises Privacy and Data Protection Concerns 

Apple has unveiled a new “Child Account” safety feature, previewed at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on 9 June 2026, which will allow parents to control what content their children can access, which apps and websites are available to them, and who they can communicate with. Setting up a Child Account will be mandatory for users under 13 and will be available as an option for those up to 18. The feature is expected to arrive with iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 later in 2026. Once a Child Account is created, parents can manage app access using a new “Ask to Buy” approval mechanism and can require permission before their child accesses a new website via a feature called “Ask to Browse”. However, the move has raised privacy and data protection concerns. Critics have noted that making a Child Account mandatory for under-13 users requires Apple to collect and process personal data about children, which engages obligations under various jurisdictions' data protection frameworks, including India's DPDP Act, which mandates verifiable parental consent for processing children's data and prohibits targeting children with behavioural advertising. The move has also been flagged as potentially contradicting Apple's own stated position on age verification in other regulatory contexts. 

READ MORE - Apple's New Child Account Feature Raises Privacy and Data Protection Concerns | MediaNama 

• VIQ Solutions Transcription Contracts Expand Scandal to 13 Australian Government Agencies 

A data breach involving Canadian transcription services provider VIQ Solutions has widened significantly, with at least 13 Australian government agencies now understood to be caught up in the unfolding scandal. These include the Australian Taxation Office, the Department of Defence, Services Australia, and the Office of the Special Investigator. VIQ Solutions had held contracts to provide AI-driven transcription services to courts and tribunals across Australia but was found in February 2026 to have subcontracted work to e24 Technologies, a Chennai-based firm, in breach of Commonwealth contract terms that explicitly prohibited the offshoring of data.

Thousands of sensitive court files, including material relating to domestic violence cases, child abuse proceedings, and national security matters, were exposed. VIQ's Australian operations have since entered voluntary administration, and the company has been removed as an approved supplier. Contracts valued at more than $20 million are understood to have been compromised. The Australian government has faced criticism for what senators described as a “set and forget” approach to vendor oversight, and calls have been made for an urgent audit of all affected contracts. VIQ's Canadian parent company has reportedly withheld the findings of an independent cybersecurity investigation from Commonwealth authorities. 

READ MORE - ATO, Defence Dept, Services Australia Among 13 Agencies Embroiled in Transcript Scandal | ABC News