Delhi High Court Allows Withdrawal of Petition After Fake AI-Generated Case Laws Detected
New Delhi: In a rare incident pointing to the risks of using AI-generated material in legal matters, the Delhi High Court permitted the Greenopolis Welfare Association (GWA) to withdraw its petition after it was found to rely on fabricated and non-existent judgments.
The case was heard by Justice Girish Kathpalia, where GWA had challenged orders of the trial court that had restricted it from filing its written statement while allowing applications of homebuyers.
During arguments, senior advocates representing the homebuyers, including N. Hariharan, Abhijat and Sanjay Ghose, highlighted that the petition quoted judgments that did not exist. For instance, Chitra Narain v. DDA, 2000 (87) DLT 276 was cited, but such a case was never reported. Similarly, the petition referred to paragraphs 73 and 74 of Raj Narain v. Indira Nehru Gandhi, (1972) 3 SCC 850, although the judgment had only 27 paragraphs.
Faced with these discrepancies, the petitioner’s senior counsel sought permission to withdraw the plea. The Court granted the request, observing that several references cited by the petitioners were either false or wrongly quoted.
The Court clarified that submissions made during the hearing were confined to the trial court’s orders alone, and nothing beyond that. The petition and related applications were dismissed as withdrawn.
This matter has raised concerns in the legal community about the growing use of AI-generated content in drafting petitions. Misquoted or fabricated case law can have serious consequences, and the Court’s remarks serve as a reminder to lawyers to thoroughly verify all citations before placing them on record.
Case Title: Greenopolis Welfare Association (GWA) vs Narender Singh and Others
