In a first, Punjab and Haryana High Court uses Al to validate opinion in murder case

Saurabh Malik

Chandigarh, March 27

The Punjab and Haryana High Court today broke new ground in the country’s judicial system by merging artificial intelligence with human in its judgment in an assault and murder case. Justice Anoop Chitkara referred to the AI text generator’s answer in the legal ruling, while assessing the worldwide view on bail “when the assault was laced with cruelty”.

This is, perhaps, the first legal decision in the country where the artificial intelligence platform “trained with multitudinous data” was used to put things in a global perspective. Justice Chitkara used the AI tool to pose the legal question “post-reasoning” and included its responses in his decision.

AI Chabot ChatGPT is being used in judicial systems across the world to analyse information for the lawyers to help them search legal precedents and assisting the administrations in streamlining the mechanism. A few courts across the world have also been relying upon it while coming out with rulings.

In India, the Supreme Court about a month back logged on to major technological advancement by transcribing its proceedings live using AI. The courts across the country have until now not relied upon the text-generating bot to come out with judgments or substantiate findings.

Justice Chitkara was hearing a bail petition filed by an accused “incarcerating due to his involvement in brutal assault carried out by him and some of his accomplices culminating in death of an individual”. An FIR in the matter for murder and other offences was registered in June 2020 at Shimlapuri police station in Ludhiana district.

Justice Chitkara asserted the complainant and the now-deceased were unarmed when waylaid by the petitioner and his other accomplices before being attacked in “an abhorrent manner” as substantiated by the injuries.

Making it clear that the accused did not deserve the concession of bail, Justice Chitkara asserted: “Causing death itself is cruel but if the cruelty causes death, the tables turn. When the physical assault is done with an element of cruelty, the parameters of bail also change…. When the offense is heinous and the crime brutal, cruelty becomes one of the factors in granting or refusing bail”.

After detailed reasoning, Justice Chitkara asserted to further assess the worldwide view ‘ChatGPT Open AI’ was asked: “What is the jurisprudence on bail when the assailants assaulted with cruelty?” Among other things, it said in general assailants charged with a violent crime involving cruelty, such as murder, aggravated assault, or torture, might be considered a danger to the community and a flight risk. The Judge in such cases might be less inclined to grant bail or may set very high bail amount to ensure appearance in court and prevent risk to public safety.

Justice Chitkara concluded reference to ChatGPT and the observation made was not an expression of opinion on the merits of the case. It was only intended to present a broader picture on bail jurisprudence, where cruelty was a factor.