Cyril Shroff Centre for AI, Law and Regulation launched at Jindal Global Law School

Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM), its Managing Partner Cyril Shroff and OP Jindal Global University on Friday announced the establishment of the Cyril Shroff Centre for AI, Law & Regulation at Jindal Global Law School (JGLS).

The launch also marks the 10-year anniversary of CAM.

The Cyril Shroff Centre for AI, Law & Regulation will be India’s first dedicated centre with a focus on the congruence of AI, law, policy and regulation.

The Centre aims to respond to the prescient challenges of steering the digital economy through the age of AI by producing rigorous research, facilitating knowledge creation, shaping public policy, and driving capacity-building initiatives.

Speaking to Bar & Bench, Prof C Raj Kumar, Founding Vice-Chancellor of OP Jindal Global University (JGU), said that the Centre was established with the support of Shroff through a landmark endowment of ₹15 crore.

He also emphasised that as an independent Centre, it aims to support government departments and courts across the country to lay down rigorous compliance mechanisms. He said,

"Many a time, when our Professors write articles, they are sought after by various departments of the government and courts even cite them as actual sources in judgments. We have the opportunity to help and support the government to formulate good legal and regulatory architecture, understanding both the implications and the interface of the technology at hand. Both of these aspects are so important because while we have have enough engineers to create codes for the programs, the impact on society is what is ultimately important. So compliance mechanisms, ethical policies, etc., must be put in place to make it more effective."

Shroff told Bar & Bench that the Centre is primarily a philanthropic initiative aimed at advancing education and knowledge in the fields of AI, law and regulation, rather than a commercial endeavour.

"There are very few norms for ethical behaviour and compliance in this space. It is a big risk. What motivated us to set up this Centre is more philanthropic, than commercial. The fact that we have Prarambh helped us in identifying what the gaps are. But there is a fundamental difference between the two. Prarambh and all the other things were for our benefit. This is the almost exactly the opposite. This is housed entirely with the university. We will watch from a distance and see what work it does and how it contributes to public policy. This is driven more by public spiritedness rather than any commercial interests," he said.

Prof Raj Kumar added that the work of the Centre will look at addressing larger challenges facing the Indian judicial system, especially the mounting pendeny of cases.

"Mr. Shroff and I spoke about how we should think about the bigger challenge of the 50 million cases that are pending before Indian courts. To what extent can technology address the larger challenge of access to justice? So this is not just a question of looking at issues pertaining to corporate and commercial areas. There are a whole range of issues we can address through AI and we should because ultimately the 50 million pending cases are threatening the very foundation of access to justice, the rule of law, and the faith of the public in our judicial institutions."

Shroff said that he hopes that courts would one day appoint the Centre as amicus curiae to assist them in deciding cases related to AI regulation.

"I wanted an independent centre where anybody can go and ask for answers. The Ministry of Technology, Supreme Court, judiciary can use this as a resource centre. This Centre can be called as an amicus in cases concerning these issues by the Supreme Court and any other courts," Shroff said.

To fulfil its vision and mission, the Centre intends to build strong partnerships with Indian agencies such as NITI Aayog, Ministry of Electronics & IT, RBI, SEBI, and TRAI; global regulators like OECD, EU AI Act institutions, US FTC, and UK AI Safety Institute; leading universities including Harvard, Oxford, Stanford, MIT, and other AI ethics and law centres; and technology leaders like Microsoft, Google, OpenAI, Meta, and firms in India’s vibrant tech ecosystem.

The five-year strategic vision of the Centre includes launching inter-disciplinary research projects, AI-integrated law courses, and executive training programmes. It aims to develop an AI ethics framework for India and policy whitepapers, providing impactful inputs to government and regulatory bodies. It also in intends to establish chair professorships and research grants, and publish scholarly works on AI law and governance. 

The Centre has outlined 10 major objectives that will guide its work. These include: 

1. Research and Knowledge Creation: Produce cutting-edge research on AI regulation, ethics, governance, and liability;

2. Policy Formulation and Advisory: Offer expert policy recommendations to Indian and global regulatory bodies;

3. AI and Law Curriculum Development: Develop new courses on AI and law, and offer executive education programmes for legal professionals, policymakers and corporate leaders;

4. Multi-stakeholder Engagement: Collaborate and establish partnerships with industry, government, academia and civil society on AI governance;

5. Global AI Governance and Ethics: Actively contribute to international discussions on AI law and collaborate with organisations like the OECD, UN, WTO, EU, and G20 AI initiatives;

6. AI and Human Rights: Investigate the impact of AI on fundamental rights, privacy, discrimination and bias, and propose ethical AI regulatory frameworks;

7. Legal Tech and AI Regulation: Study AI’s role in transforming legal practice, dispute resolution and justice delivery, and explore AI-powered legal research, automation and contract management tools;

8. Litigation, Liability, and AI-driven Risks: Address emerging legal questions around AI accountability, product liability, autonomous systems and AI accidents;

9. AI and Financial Regulation: Assess AI’s implications for banking, fintech, algorithmic trading and risk management, and develop policy solutions for AI regulation in finance and securities markets; and

10. Capacity Building and Public Awareness: Organise lectures, conferences and training programmes and develop educational resources for broader public engagement.