Justice depends on human wisdom, not AI

The Indian legal profession is facing an uncomfortable reality it can no longer ignore. A significant number of those practising law may not be qualified to do so.

- Ashish Bharadwaj & Insiyah Vahanvaty

In the last few days, separate announcements by the Supreme Court and the Bar Council of India (BCI) have exposed two distinct forms of inauthenticity in the legal profession: Doubts about the credentials of those practising law, and doubts about the reliability of the artificial intelligence (AI) systems increasingly being used to assist them.

The BCI's recent verification exercise has exposed a rot that should have been addressed decades ago. By its own admission, a staggering 35-40% of practitioners in court complexes across the country may be operating with fake law degrees. During the verification process, thousands failed to submit the required documentation, confirming suspicions that many may have entered the profession through fabricated credentials.

The scandal prompted the Chief Justice of India to make — and later clarify — his now-infamous “cockroaches” remark. The CJI's critique was not directed at young lawyers generally but at bogus practitioners who had entered the Bar through manufactured means.