In a groundbreaking case that questions the boundaries of academic integrity and artificial intelligence, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has called for a response from OP Jindal Global University concerning a student’s claim against being failed for submitting AI-generated answers in his exam. The matter has been set for further hearing on November 14, as announced by Justice Jasgurpeet Singh Puri.
Kaustubh Shakkarwar, the petitioner, is not just any student; he is a seasoned lawyer with a rich background in intellectual property and technology laws, currently pursuing his Masters of Law (LLM) at Jindal Global Law School. Shakkarwar, who has also served as a law researcher for the Chief Justice of India and operates an AI litigation platform, found himself at odds with the university’s Unfair Means Committee. After his submission for the course “Law and Justice in the Globalizing World” was flagged for containing “88% AI-generated content,” he was declared failed by the committee on June 25—a decision later upheld by the Controller of Examinations.
In a bold move, Shakkarwar has taken his grievance to court, arguing that the university has no explicit rules banning AI-generated content. His plea, presented through advocate Prabhneer Swani, challenges the lack of clear guidelines on AI usage in academic work, claiming that the prohibition of such content must be legally established as equivalent to plagiarism.
Shakkarwar also insists that the work was original, crafted by him with AI as a tool rather than a crutch. He contends that the university has failed to provide substantial evidence to back their plagiarism claim. Further, his legal argument points to the Copyright Act, 1957, stating that any artistic work created with the aid of AI would still hold the creator—the human user—as the copyright holder.
