Supreme Court's Justice Nagarathna Calls for Deepfake Legislation and AI Advisory Committee to Protect Girl Child

New Delhi – In a powerful call for systemic reform and forward-looking legal frameworks, Supreme Court Justice B.V. Nagarathna has urged competent authorities to urgently legislate on deepfakes and artificial intelligence-enabled child abuse. Delivering the closing remarks at a national consultation on safeguarding the girl child, she proposed the creation of a Supreme Court-led "AI-Cyber Crime Advisory Committee on Girl Child" to tackle the unprecedented threats posed by emerging technologies.

Justice Nagarathna, who chairs the Supreme Court's Juvenile Justice Committee, was speaking at the conclusion of the Tenth Round of the National Annual Stakeholders' Consultation. The two-day event, organized by the committee in association with UNICEF India, brought together key figures from the judiciary, government, and civil society to deliberate on creating a safer and more enabling environment for girls in India.

"The various dangers posed by evolving technologies may seem like a Sword of Damocles," Justice Nagarathna warned. She asserted that the "need of the hour" is a multi-pronged strategy that includes not only new legislation but also mandatory 24-hour reporting of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) by tech platforms, platform-level age-gating, and a national system for tracking response timelines to such crimes.

The proposed advisory committee would be tasked with identifying the specific impacts of AI on girls and recommending mitigation strategies, signaling a proactive stance from the apex court on the intersection of technology and child protection.

A Constitutional Mandate for Systemic Change

Grounding her comprehensive address in constitutional principles, Justice Nagarathna framed the protection of the girl child not as a matter of charity but as a fundamental obligation arising from Articles 14 (equality), 15 (prohibition of discrimination), 21A (right to education), and 15(3) (special provisions for women and children).

She stressed that these constitutional mandates must be applied with a keen awareness of intersectionality . "Due recognition must be given to a girl child belonging to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, minority and marginalised sections of society, the differently abled, the economically backward category, or those with learning disabilities," she stated.

Justice Nagarathna cautioned against superficial solutions, arguing that interventions must move beyond "band-aid fixes" to address the root causes of social ills. She pointed to the "chasm between the ideals and implementation of relevant statutes," calling for systemic changes that create a truly "enabling environment" for girls to not just survive, but thrive.

Echoing this sentiment, Justice J.B. Pardiwala, another member of the Juvenile Justice Committee, emphasized the need for grassroots action. "Talking alone is not enough... Judgments are not going to be enough. The need of the hour is that we should work at the grassroots level," he said, lamenting that children are often overlooked in policymaking as they "do not constitute a voting class."

A Multi-Pronged Strategy for Protection and Empowerment

Justice Nagarathna's address laid out a detailed roadmap for reform across multiple domains, offering specific, actionable recommendations for legal and policy professionals.

1. Combating Sex Selection and Infanticide: Beyond the stringent enforcement of existing laws like the PCPNDT Act, Justice Nagarathna advocated for community-centric approaches. She suggested leveraging ASHA workers and other community health volunteers to track pregnancies and counsel mothers, thereby dispelling the "notion of the girl child being a burden." She also mandated the establishment of measurable monitoring systems to address enforcement gaps and the misuse of technology in sex selection, calling for accurate reporting of statistics "even if they paint a negative picture."

2. Education as an Emancipatory Tool: Describing education as the "bedrock of a dignified and meaningful life," she called for the vigorous implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act. Key recommendations included time-bound teacher recruitment and ensuring financial barriers do not deny girls access to education. She reframed fee waivers and scholarships not as "charity or benevolence" but as a right the girl child is entitled to. Crucially, she urged for robust pathways to help victims of trafficking, violence, or child marriage return to mainstream education.

3. Holistic Nutrition and Health: Recognizing the intergenerational impact of poor nutrition, Justice Nagarathna called for a holistic understanding of nourishment. Her policy prescriptions were pointed and specific: finalizing a national definition of HFSS (High in Fat, Sugar, and Salt) foods, introducing front-of-pack warning labels , taxing unhealthy products, and enforcing a ban on junk food marketing around schools, complete with annual compliance audits. "To save a girl child is to save a generation," she remarked, linking nutritional access directly to empowerment.

4. Victim-Centric Justice and Institutional Reform: A significant portion of her address focused on making the justice system more compassionate and effective. Justice Nagarathna called for the institutionalization of empathy-based police training and trauma-informed judicial proceedings to prevent the re-traumatization of victims.

She proposed a mandate for every district to have access to child- and gender-sensitive medical, psychosocial, and legal services. To enhance accountability, she suggested annual reviews of survivor satisfaction and conviction rates. For anti-trafficking efforts, she recommended professionalizing investigations through forensic and financial tracing and institutionalizing rehabilitation as a state duty with measurable outcomes.

From Deliberation to Action

The consultation concluded with a pledge, led by Justice Nagarathna, for all stakeholders to assist children in need. Her closing remarks synthesized the two days of intensive deliberations, which covered issues from the POCSO Act to child marriage, reinforcing the need for a collaborative, community-level approach.

As Justice Pardiwala noted, the challenge lies in translating these high-level discussions into tangible change. "While it is essential to ensure that laws are implemented in both letter and spirit, our efforts must extend beyond the legal framework to actively shape and transform social conversations and perceptions about the girl child," he stated.

The detailed recommendations from the Supreme Court's Juvenile Justice Committee set a clear, ambitious agenda for legislators, the executive, and the legal community. The call for an AI advisory committee and deepfake legislation, in particular, positions the judiciary at the forefront of addressing modern challenges to child safety, signaling a critical new frontier for Indian law and jurisprudence.