"No Decision at All": Fair Procedure and the Judicial Duty to Verify After Pooja Ramesh Singh

Abstract

In July of 2026, the Supreme Court of India held that a decision based on an AI's hallucination as to what the law is, is "no decision at all." Although the Supreme Court made a good decision on a very limited constitutional basis, the Supreme Court's holding will be an ex post facto blunt instrument, unless there is a procedural obligation placed on the decision maker. Nullity is based on the constitutional rights to fair procedure (Articles 14 and 21) and the requirement of a reasoned decision. A default rule of nullity is better than a materiality test. The most appropriate response would be a technology-neutral duty to verify each authority relied upon against a primary source, to document that verification, and to notify the parties when the court relies upon authority that neither party has cited. When the Draft Regulations for Use of Artificial Intelligence in Courts (2026) are reviewed by the Supreme Court, the proposed regulations state that the verification exemption will not apply to legal authority.