Delhi High Court warns judges, officials over fabricated case citations

India Jul 29, 2026

The Delhi High Court just flagged a worrying trend: judges and officials using fake or AI-generated case citations in their decisions.

In a recent case, six made-up precedents were found in an income tax order, prompting the court to throw it out.

The judges called this "fraud upon the justice delivery system" and stressed that making up cases can't be tolerated.

Officer admitted using unverified citations

This all started when EPFO challenged a tax order based on these nonexistent cases.

Turns out, the officer who wrote it admitted he used unverified citations because of work pressure.

While no action was taken against him since he's retired, the court wants stricter checks to prevent this kind of thing going forward.

EPFO has been asked to resubmit its arguments for a fresh review soon.