Supreme Court Declines Deepfake PIL On Col Sofiya Qureshi

New Delhi: Supreme Court on Friday refused to proceed with a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) alleging circulation of AI-generated deepfake videos of Colonel Sofiya Qureshi. The petitioner had requested the apex court to set up a court-monitored expert panel in order to draft a model law to deal with such online content.

A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh who handled the plea agreed with the petitioner-in-person Narendra Kumar Goswami about the seriousness of the matter but pointed out that it is already being considered by the Delhi High Court.

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“We are 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 Court observed.

The petitioner argued that he was distressed with the circulation of deepfake videos of Qureshi and presented that several fake videos of the Army officer were being circulated online.

The bench communicated that cyber criminals are so much faster than the regulating authorities and asked the high court to pay attention to the petitioner and hear his suggestions on the issue.

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“We do not deem it necessary to entertain this petition and initiate a parallel proceeding. The petitioner is relegated to Delhi High Court with liberty to seek his impleadment as intervenor and assist in the pending matter,” said the bench.

(With input from agencies)