Bombay High Court pulls up tax officer for citing fake, AI-generated case laws

This piece covers a Bombay High Court episode in which a tax department officer was sharply criticised for relying on purported precedents that the court found to be fabricated and apparently AI-generated. The bench expressed concern over the use of unreliable, machine-produced citations in filings, emphasising the duty of officers of the court to verify authorities before placing them on record. The court’s rebuke highlights the emergent problem of synthetic or non-existent judgments generated by artificial intelligence tools and then cited as if authentic legal authorities. The report outlines the factual background of the hearing, the bench’s observations on accuracy and professional responsibility, and possible consequences for reliance on unverified machine output in tax litigation. It flags a broader systemic risk: if courts and litigants cannot rely on the authenticity of cited authorities, the adversarial process and adjudicatory quality suffer. The article thereby raises caution about the intersection of AI use and legal practice, particularly in sensitive tax disputes where reliance on firm precedent is critical.