Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has barred judicial officers from using AI tools — including ChatGPT, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and Meta AI — for writing judgments or conducting legal research, warning that violations “will be viewed seriously.”

The directive, issued administratively from the Chandigarh bench, will be communicated to district and sessions judges across Punjab, Haryana, and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.

The court becomes the second in India to impose such restrictions. On April 4, the Gujarat High Court introduced a comprehensive framework explicitly prohibiting AI in any form of decision-making, judicial reasoning, order drafting, bail and sentencing considerations, or substantive adjudication — while permitting its limited use for administrative support. Its policy drew a clear line: AI should “improve the speed and quality of justice delivery,” not replace judicial reasoning.

The Punjab and Haryana directive follows a sharp warning sounded by Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra at a recent North Zone-I Regional Conference on technology and rule of law. Justice Mishra cautioned against the premature integration of AI into adjudication, citing systemic risks in the absence of a robust legislative and institutional framework. He warned that endorsement by higher courts could trigger uncritical adoption down the judicial hierarchy — a scenario he described as “a very, very serious situation — a crisis of sorts.”

The administrative ban reflects that caution precisely: technological assistance may have a role in the justice system, but the core of judicial decision-making must remain insulated from unregulated AI.

Key changes made: Tightened the lede, cut repetition, removed ad markers, unified the Gujarat HC reference into a single cohesive paragraph, and sharpened Justice Mishra’s quotes for impact while preserving their substance.