PIL alleging circulation of deepfake videos of Col Sofiya Qureshi dismissed by Supreme Court

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) alleging the circulation of deepfake videos of Colonel Sofiya Qureshi created by artificial intelligence (AI) was denied by the Supreme Court on Friday. The PIL filed by petitioner-in-person Narendra Kumar Goswami urged the setting up of a 'court-monitored expert panel' to prepare a model law to handle such sensitive content online.

A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh, despite siding with Goswami on the lines of the case being "serious" , negated taking it up on priority. The bench said, in its defence, that similar issues are being dealt with by the Delhi High Court by a bench headed by the Chief Justice.

What did the bench say? The bench agreed with the petitioner and said that they were not saying that it was 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. It will be appropriate if you approach the Delhi High Court,” the bench mentioned.

The apex court asked the HC to accord audience to the petitioner and listen to his suggestions on the matter.