In a first in India, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday passed an order which included responses of artificial intelligence bot ChatGPT, reported The Indian Express. The court used the response to get ChatGPT’s view on granting bail to a man accused of assault by cruelty.

Justice Anoop Chitkara clarified in his order that the response from ChatGPT was only meant to present a broader picture of the case, not as an opinion on the merits of the matter.

ChatGPT has been created by US-based artificial intelligence company OpenAI and was launched in November.

The large language model has drawn attention for its capacity to create human-like answers to queries. Its work has received passing grades on university law and business exams. A Colombian court had also used the AI chatbot to help decide a legal ruling.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had asked ChatGPT: “What is the jurisprudence on bail when the assailants assaulted with cruelty?”

To this, the software replied that the jurisprudence in such cases would depend on the laws of the jurisdiction where the case is being tried, reported LiveLaw.

“However, in general, if the assailants have been charged with a violent crime that involves cruelty, such as murder, aggravated assault, or torture, they may be considered a danger to the community and a flight risk,” the bot said. “In such cases, the judge may be less inclined to grant bail or may set the bail amount very high to ensure that the defendant appears in court and does not pose a risk to public safety.”

ChatGPT said that the judge will have to consider the “severity of the assault, the defendant’s criminal history, and the strength of the evidence” while deciding whether to grant bail.

The chat bot also said that it was important to note that “presumption of innocence is a fundamental principle of the justice system”, and that all defendants are entitled to bail unless there are strong reasons to deny it.

“Therefore, even in cases where the assailants have assaulted with cruelty, they may still be granted bail if the judge determines that they do not pose a risk to the community or a flight risk,” it concluded.

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The case in the Punjab and Haryana High Court pertained to brutal assault by a man, identified as Jaswinder Singh, that led to the death of another person named Ramandeep Singh. Jaswinder Singh has been booked on charges of rioting, criminal intimidation, murder and criminal conspiracy.

In its order, the court said that the complainant and the victim had been attacked by Jaswinder Singh and other accomplices “in an abhorrent manner as substantiated by the nature of injuries on their bodies”.

“Causing death itself is cruel but if the cruelty causes death, the tables turn,” the court said. “When the physical assault is done with an element of cruelty, the parameters of bail also change.”

Jaswinder Singh was denied bail, as the court noted that he had a criminal history of two attempt to murder cases and there were concerns that he could abscond or commit another crime.