The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has directed the Lucknow Police Commissioner to appoint an officer of at least Deputy Commissioner of Police rank to investigate a high school marksheet that the court said appeared to have been produced with the help of artificial intelligence.

According to reports of the order by LiveLaw and LawChakra, a division bench of Justice Rajnish Kumar and Justice Babita Rani passed the directions on 25 September 2026 in a writ petition filed by a couple seeking protection from alleged police harassment after their marriage at an Arya Samaj temple in Lucknow. The order was reported this week.

How the discrepancy surfaced

The question arose because two versions of the same school record were before the court. The copy attached to the petition gave one petitioner's year of birth as 2006, while the marriage certificate recorded 2005. When the Arya Samaj secretary later produced the marksheet he said had been supplied at the time of the wedding, the bench noticed different certificate numbers and a transcript that was not in Hindi, unlike the copy filed with the petition.

The bench said the second document was prima facie manipulated and appeared to have been prepared using AI. It described the document as the "fruit of poisonous tree" and observed that producing such material could "tarnish the dignity of the institution". Reports note the observations are prima facie and that no finding has been recorded against any individual.

What the police must do

The inquiry officer is to be appointed within one week, carry out a detailed and on-the-spot inquiry, and report within four weeks on who was involved in preparing the document. Both petitioners, the Arya Samaj secretary and the priest who conducted the ceremony have been told to remain available to the investigator, and the documents and register produced before the court are being kept in a sealed cover. The matter was listed again on 12 November.

The order is a reminder that generative tools can reproduce layouts, seals and fonts convincingly, which makes visual inspection of a scan or photocopy an increasingly weak test of authenticity.

Checking a marksheet

Institutions, employers and officials relying on a school record should confirm it directly with the issuing board, through its official verification channel or DigiLocker where the board issues records digitally, rather than relying on a copy supplied by the holder. Mismatches in roll numbers, certificate numbers, language of the transcript or dates of birth between two copies of the same document are warning signs that warrant independent verification.

Sources

This News Desk report summarises information published by the sources above, written in our own words. Persons named in criminal matters are accused, not convicted, unless a court has ruled otherwise. To report an error, use our contact page.

Allahabad High CourtForged MarksheetArtificial IntelligenceUttar PradeshCourt Orders

More from the News Desk