'Rely Only On Authenticated Legal Precedents': Punjab & Haryana High Court Calls For Training Trial Judges On Use Of Online Tools

The Punjab & Haryana High Court has called for training of Judicial Officers on responsible and judicious use of the online information and technology.

The development ensued after an Additional Sessions Judge in Kurukshetra, while rejecting an anticipatory bail plea, relied on a headline from an online pop-up notification of a legal portal without reading the complete order.

The High Court has called for the sensitisation and training of all judicial officers in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh on responsible and authentic use of digital legal information.

Justice Sumeet Goel said, "I find it necessary to observe that reliance on pop-up notifications or brief extracts displayed by online applications, magazines or unverified digital platforms cannot be treated as a legitimate or authoritative source of law. The judicial orders must be founded strictly on authentic and verifiable legal material such as reported judgments, official publications, law journals of established credibility or certified copies."

Any form of casual or indirect reference especially upon digital alerts, only by itself, cannot be the made the basis for determining the rights and liberties of the individuals, the Court added.

Judicial Officers Required to Practice Utmost Caution While Using Online News Portals

The bench emphasised that such practice must not be adopted by the Courts subordinate to this High Court. The judicial officers are required to exercise utmost caution while using technology- based tools, online news portals, legal blogs, mobile applications or digital notifications.

While technology may assist in staying updated with legal developments but it cannot substitute proper judicial scrutiny and verification, it added.

Background 

On October 8, 2025, the High Court, while examining an order dated June 11, 2025 passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Kurukshetra rejecting anticipatory bail in an NDPS matter, noted that the trial court had relied upon an purported Supreme Court observation regarding anticipatory bail being “unheard of” in NDPS cases. However, the order cited no judgment title or citation.

Taking note of this anomaly, the High Court directed the Registrar General to obtain comments from the Presiding Officer along with a copy of the judgment he claimed to rely upon.

In his report dated October 10, 2025, the Additional Sessions Judge stated that he  relied upon a pop-up notification on his mobile app which summarized an order of the Supreme Court. He also enclosed screenshots of the pop-up and the Supreme Court order.

The High Court noted that the pop-up merely carried a headline stating:

“Grant of anticipatory bail in an NDPS matter is a very serious issue.”

However, the Judge neither read nor cited the actual order while deciding the anticipatory bail application, the judge highlighted.

The High Court remarked that the Presiding Officer “appears to have proceeded to just rely upon the headlines of the pop-up of an online magazine and has not bothered to read the entire judgment/order.”

Justice Goel observed that, "the informational retrieval mechanism of the inter-webs constitutes a formidable informational highway, also a vital, rich and wide repository of information, processes; web-pages replete with immense and large volumes of information - text, images, videos; applications for ease of processes, all these are nowadays an indispensable reality of our everyday life. The readily available information indubitably causes ease in many of the processes for us, fills the information gaps and make big data interpretations available to us."

Artificial Assistance Must Be Verified

The Court observed that, Artificial Intelligence is supplying even more assistance to us. And, this is the operative word, 'assistance'.

The judge said, "while we could use the inter- webs for assistance and eliciting data and information, it comes with an unmissable rider that it must be verified for authenticity; its metadata (providing context and descriptive information about a file or dataset, such as the author, creation date, file size, and format), source of information as well as its efficacy must be tested thoroughly, especially; it must be simon- pure."

It added that, Especially, when this crucial authentication could have a life-changing impact or change the outcome of a judgment. Social media platforms, web- pages and commercial websites as well as private web portals dedicated to law related informational updates could be a good source of information and learning, yet it is crucial to work out the data integrity posted/available in these digital spaces, lest it results in a confusion with dire consequences

"Inter-web is also a space where fragmented amorphous information floats around, sans proprietor imprimatur. The judicial system is accountable for any information emanating from their end. Usage of authentic and original sources already available to the judiciary, in abundance, will obviate and mitigate any errors from occurring", the Court opined.

Sanctity Of Judicial Order demands Disciplined Approach

While directing training for all Judicial Officers in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, the Court said, "the judicial officers must be reminded that only authenticated judicial precedents and legally recognized sources may be relied upon while rendering judicial decisions."

It emphasised that the sanctity of judicial orders demands a careful and disciplined approach and indiscriminate reliance on unverified digital material has the potential to undermine the integrity of the judicial process.

The Court asked the Registrar General of to place the matter before the the Chief Justice for his rumination, including but not limited to, "action(s) required to be undertaken particularly against the Judicial Officer in question”