The Supreme Court on Friday declined to entertain a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking the court’s intervention in connection with the alleged circulation of AI-generated deepfake videos of Colonel Sofiya Qureshi. The plea had urged the apex court to constitute a court-monitored expert committee to draft a model law for regulating such harmful digital content.
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh acknowledged the gravity of the issue but pointed out that the matter is already being considered by the Delhi High Court. “We are not saying that it is not a serious issue, but the Delhi High Court has been hearing this issue for a couple of years. If we entertain this petition, the High Court will stop hearing the pending matter and all its hard work over the years will go in vain,” the bench observed.
The PIL was filed by petitioner-in-person Narendra Kumar Goswami, who argued that deepfake content poses a threat to individual dignity and national security, and called for immediate legal reforms to counter such emerging threats. However, the top court advised him to approach the Delhi High Court instead.
The bench made it clear that it found merit in the concerns raised but emphasized the importance of judicial consistency. “It will be appropriate if you approach the Delhi High Court,” it said before dismissing the petition.
The Delhi High Court, particularly a bench led by the Chief Justice, has been seized of similar issues, especially in the context of deepfakes and digital impersonation, amid growing concern over the misuse of artificial intelligence in creating deceptive and harmful content.
