‘Go Sell Some Sweaters’: Supreme Court Rebukes 12th Pass Trader Over AI-Drafted PIL

Last Updated:March 11, 2026, 05:53 IST

The bench grew suspicious when Sidhu, who said he had studied only till Class 12 and runs a hosiery business in Ludhiana, used complex legal expressions in the petition.

The Supreme Court pulled up a cloth trader from Ludhiana, who studied till 12th, appeared with a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) containing high-sounding legal jargon. The top court dismissed the petition after he admitted to using artificial intelligence tools to draft the petition and failed to explain legal terms used in it.

“‘Jaao, Ludhiana mein 2-3 aur sweater becho… Jin logo ka kaam hai aisi petition file karna, woh nuksaan kardengay apka costs lagwa ke’ (Go and sell 2-3 more sweaters in Ludhiana… If you continue filing such petitions through others, they will end up having costs imposed upon you)," Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said while dismissing the PIL.

A bench comprising CJI Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice R Mahadevan was hearing the petition related to the PM CARES Fund on Tuesday when the petitioner, identified as Rajnish Sidhu, appeared in person and began reading from a prepared text, news agency PTI reported.

The bench grew suspicious when Sidhu, who said he had studied only till Class 12 and runs a hosiery business in Ludhiana, used complex legal expressions in the petition.

When asked about his background, Sidhu told the court he was a trader in hosiery goods and had never filed any petition earlier, adding that this was his first time approaching the Supreme Court directly. Reacting to this, the CJI remarked sarcastically, “Bada bahaduri ka kaam kiya, seedha Ludhiana se chalke aagaye. (Very brave of you to come straight from Ludhiana to the Supreme Court.)"

The TOP court then questioned whether Sidhu had actually drafted the petition. “Main apka ek exam karwaunga yaha… agar 30 per cent bhi aagaya toh maan lunga ki petition aapne banaayi hai (I will take your English exam right here. If you manage to score even 30 per cent, I will believe you drafted this plea)", the CJI said, asking him to explain terms used in the plea.

The moment of truth came when the CJI asked Sidhu to explain “Fiduciary Risk of Corporate Donors", a term used in the PIL.

However, the cloth trader could not explain the phrase. The CJI then said it appeared that the petition had been written by someone else and that Sidhu was merely reading from a script.

After repeated questioning, Sidhu said a typist had initially helped him draft the petition. “The typist was very helpful… I gifted him four jackets. He was asking for Rs 1,000 per hour," he told the bench.

Sidhu eventually admitted that he had drafted the petition himself using three to four AI tools because he could not afford a lawyer.

The bench dismissed the PIL, observing that the petition contained “vague, wild, frivolous and scandalous allegations" and that the language and constitutional arguments used in it could not have been the petitioner’s own.

While declining to order a deeper inquiry into who may have helped draft the plea, the court warned Sidhu against filing such petitions in the future.

“Mr Sidhu, this has been written and given to you by some advocate. You are just reading the script," the CJI interjected and warned that he would order an investigation by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau.

On Monday, the CJI-led bench trashed five “frivolous" PILs filed by a single lawyer, including one seeking a scientific study on whether onion and garlic contained “tamasic" (negative) energy, and asked if he drafted them in the middle of the night.

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