India's Court Hierarchy
The Constitution provides for the establishment of a Supreme Court. The Supreme Court of India has greater jurisdiction than any comparable court around the world. It can deal with disputes between the Union of India and other states, it can hear appeals from the state high courts on civil, criminal and constitutional matters, and has special appellate power to grant leave to appeal from any court or tribunal. Thus, the Supreme Court is a forum for any grievance in the country that requires judicial intervention.
- India's Legal Research and Legal SystemGlobaLex - by Rakesh Kumar Shrivastava (open access)
- India CodeThe Constitution can be found here
Legal systems of the world : a political and social encyclopedia by Call Number: KL 42 LEGAPublication Date: 2005v.2 p.695-697
- SSRN eLibrarySee also this book chapter on SSRN (open access): Robinson, Nick, 'The Structure and Functioning of the Supreme Court of India' in Gerald Rosenberg, Sudhir Krishnaswamy & Shishir Bail (eds), A Qualified Hope: The Indian Supreme Court and Progressive Social Change (Cambridge University Press, 2019) .
Latest Judgments from the Supreme Court
Supreme Court Cases - Authorised v Unauthorised Reports
The only authorised Indian law report series is the Supreme Court Reports (SCR), and for Supreme Court decisions, this should be cited wherever possible. These are available:
- The Supreme Court reportsCall Number: UniM Law REPcontaining cases determined by the Supreme Court of India.
in print from 1950 (the first volume published) to 2002 in the Law Library on Level 4
- Supreme Court of Indiaon open access online from 2010 to the present on the Publications page of the Supreme Court website. Note that the SCRs are about 4 years behind in publishing the cases.
Because of the long delay in publication of the SCR, it is completely acceptable to cite either of the following unauthorised reports in academic works, and to hand up in court:
- All India Reporter (AIR) (see entry below in the Report Series box). This series is often cited in preference to the SCR and in Indian courts it has the status of an authorised series. The Law Library has the AIRs in print.
- Cases from SCC Online (see the entry below in the Cases Databases box) are equally acceptable in court and to cite in academic writing.
The most cited law report series containing Supreme Court decisions is SCC followed by AIR and SCR.
Indian cases are often reported in multiple report series - for example: (1970) AIR 1133, [1970] 3 SCR 383, (1970) KLT 181(SC), (1970)1 SCC 189. In this example, the preferred citation is to the authorised SCRs. If you do not have access to the print SCR for 1970, it is acceptable to cite to either the AIR or SCC Online version of the decision. If, however, the parallel citation included an SCR citation and is from 2010 or later, then we would use the SCR because it is authorised and because we have online access from 2010+.
'Best' Online Caselaw Databases
There are multiple free and subscription Indian online databases available for finding Indian cases - each has strengths and weaknesses. Our recommendations are:
If you know the case you are looking for, and it is reported in either the Supreme Court Reports (SCR) (2010+) (open access) or SCC Online (SCC) (UniMelb staff & students), and if it is important for you to have this version, use SCR first, then SCC. If it reported in neither of these series, use another report series or an unreported version such as Manupatra or Kanoon.
If you don't have a specific case in mind and are, for example, searching for cases on a topic or legislative provision:
- Supreme Court of Indiaon open access online from 2010 to the present on the Publications page of the Supreme Court website. Note that the SCRs are about 4 years behind in publishing the cases.
- SCC OnlineSCC Online is India’s premier legal database with access to complete coverage of the Supreme Court, all High Courts, Tribunals and Commissions, Statutory Material and many foreign jurisdictions and International material.
- Manupatra : India Legal Law Database(UniMelb staff & students) has a much more sophisticated search engine than SCC Online. Manupatra provides multiple citations, so you can either simply download the Manupatra unreported version of a case as a pdf, or if it is important to obtain the SCR or SCC version and the case has an SCC or SCR citation, you can then go to SCC Online or SCR online to find the case by its citation. Manupatra also includes court/tribunal orders and notifications.
- Kanoon(open access) contains unreported decisions and is more up to date by a few days than the unreported cases on either Manupatra or SCC Online, and goes back further (for example, Supreme Court cases start in 1947 in Kanoon and 1950 in Manupatra). If you are looking for very recent decisions or if it is not important to access a reported version of the case, use Kanoon. It can be searched by citation, party names, keywords, court, date range etc. It can also be browsed by court and year. Kanoon is also free! Kanoon tends to provide less parallel citations than Manupatra.
Cases Databases
Open Access Online Databases
- The GOI Web Directory Judiciary portal provides access to the Supreme, High and District Courts, and Tribunals. It includes links to Causelists, and Supreme Court orders, matters pending and disposed,
- Kanoon
Database of unreported decision containing up to date full-text Supreme Court and all High Court decisions back to the inception of the courts. Supreme Court cases are available from 1902.
- Legal Information Institute of India (LiiofIndia)
Contains case law from the Supreme Court, the High Courts of all States, and some District Courts.
Note: many of these databases are out of date.
- Advocate Khoj
Contains Supreme Court judgments from 1950 to the present.
- Judgment Information System
Contains all cases of the Supreme Court from 1950 to date, searchable by parties, keyword, etc.
Also contains decisions by 20 High Courts and the Central Administrative Tribunal.
- Case Status
Provides information on pending and disposed cases of the Supreme Court of India, and a number of the High Courts and District Courts.
- Integrated Government Online Directory - IndiaThe GOI Web Directory Judiciary portal provides access to the Supreme, High and District Courts, and Tribunals. It includes links to Causelists, and Supreme Court orders, matters pending and disposed,
- KanoonDatabase of unreported decision containing up to date full-text Supreme Court and all High Court decisions back to the inception of the courts. Supreme Court cases are available from 1902.
- Legal Information Institute of India (LiiofIndia)Contains case law from the Supreme Court, the High Courts of all States, and some District Courts.
Note: many of these databases are out of date. - Advocate KhojContains Supreme Court judgments from 1950 to the present.
- eCourt Services - IndiaContains all cases of the Supreme Court from 1950 to date, searchable by parties, keyword, etc.
Also contains decisions by 20 High Courts and the Central Administrative Tribunal.
~ Case Status - Provides information on pending and disposed cases of the Supreme Court of India, and a number of the High Courts and District Courts.
Subscription Online Databases (UniMelb staff & student access)
- SCC Onlineincludes the Supreme Court Cases report series (SCC) from 1969 - present, up to date unreported judgments from the Supreme Court and all High Courts, Tribunals and Commissions, and many High Court historic and recent report series such as the Indian Law Reports (eg: Bombay Series (1927-1950); Delhi Series (1968-2012), Mysore Series (1958-1973); Karnataka Series (1979-2014) and the Bengal Law Reports (1779-1875). SCC also includes useful case digests.
~ To access, go to SCC Online (from this link, or via the catalogue or the Law Library's research databases page), and login with your University of Melbourne email address in the login box marked 'IP Access' in the top right of the screen and then click the red 'sign in' button. Note: the first time you login, you will be asked to register your email address. You will not be asked to do this again, and no password is required.
~ SCC Online provides no browse facility - cases must be searched for by citation or parties. To see coverage of the databases, select 'Indian Caselaw' on the Data Coverage page.
~ See pages 6-10 of the User Guide for help in searching for cases in SCC Online. - Manupatra : India Legal Law DatabaseIncludes full-text unreported decisions from the Supreme Court, all High Courts, the Federal Court, Privy Council and many tribunals. Coverage is mostly from the inception of each Court.
Manupatra requires that you login with a unique username and password (separate to your University of Melbourne login). From the Manupatra catalogue record click on the link 'Requires password. Get U of M password here!' and follow the prompts
Online & Print Report Series in the Law Library
Law Reports series are sometimes also (somewhat confusingly) called 'law journals'. Many of these contain scholarly articles as well as case reports.
The Law Library has access to several law report series, in print and online.
Online Law Report Series
- Supreme Court of India(open access) - this authorised report series is available freely online from 2010 to the present. Note that this is about 4 years behind in publishing the cases.
- SCC Online(UniMelb staff & student access) includes the law report series listed on the right. They are arranged by year, and can only be browsed, not searched.
~ Go to SCC Online and login with your University of Melbourne email address in the login box marked 'IP Access' in the top right of the screen and then click the red 'sign in' button. Note: the first time you login, you will be asked to register your email address. You will not be asked to do this again, and no password is required.
~ From the SCC homepage, click on the red 'Browse Law Reports' to access the Law Reports menu.
!~! WARNING: These are not necessarily the genuine law reports - it is easy to tell once you open one of the PDFs. For example, with the SCC version of the All India Reporter, SCC has included all cases covered in the AIRs but they are not PDF replicas of the print AIRs - paragraphs are often edited, abridged or omitted and paragraph numbering is different. So if you really need the genuine AIRs, you will need to consult the print volumes - see below for our holdings. - Manupatra : India Legal Law Database(UniMelb staff & student access) contains the following report series:
~ Manupatra Intellectual Property Reports [MIPR] (2013 to current)
~ Competition Law Reports [CompLR] (2013 to current)
~ Chartered Accountant Practice Journal [CAPJ] (2013 to current)
~ Energy Law Reports [ELR] (2013 to current)
~~ From the TOC menu on the left of the home page, select Manupatra Journals Digital Edition
Print Report Series (located on Level 4 of the Law Library)
- The Supreme Court reportsCall Number: UniM Law REPcontaining cases determined by the Supreme Court of India.
in print from 1950 (the first volume published) to 2002 in the Law Library on Level 4 - All India reporterCall Number: UniM Law REP(AIR)
Call No: UniM Law REP AIR. Holdings: vol 1 (1914) to current
Published monthly. Each issue is divided into sections containing news and articles, a 'Journal' section, sections reporting decisions in the Supreme Court, all High Courts, the Federal Court and the Privy Council, and a section containing legislation.
- Indian Law ReportsCall No:UniM Law REP ILR. Holdings: late 1800s only. Decisions of the High courts of India and the Privy Council.
Finding Cases on a Topic
- Manupatra : India Legal Law Database(UniMelb staff & students) has a sophisticated search engine to either look for keywords or subjects.
To search by keywords use Manu Search from the top menu bar. You can use:
~ the AND / OR drop down menu to connect words;
~ the Synonym button to find similar words;
~ the 'Near Each Other' button for proximity searches ie: to find words within 20 words of each other;
~ the Taxonomy button to find results in the taxonomy database - this will assist in finding the correct keywords to use; and
~ the Courts menu to restrict the search to particular national courts and/or include international courts.
~~ The results can be sorted by Decision Date, Title, Court Name or Relevancy.
To search by subject use Legal Search from the top menu.
~ Choose subject from the drop-down box – eg: Arbitration. Cases are classified under 53 subject headings.
~ You may type in sub-subject – eg: Appointment of arbitrator
~ You may select the Court Database from the left-hand TOC menu.
~ You may also type in any one or more other parameter (Appellant /Respondent Name, Judge etc)
~ Click Search
- Kanoon(open access) can be searched by keyword. To help construct good searches, see the Kanoon Search Tips for information on operators and word and phrase searches.
~ Select Advanced Search
~ Type your keyword/s into the ~ ~ 'Document or Title or Citation' box.
Select 'Courts' (you can choose all courts or select specific courts) and/or Tribunals from the bottom of the screen.
~ Click the 'Search' button.
~ Results can be viewed by relevance or date.
Finding Cases on Legislative Provisions
- Manupatra : India Legal Law Database(UniMelb staff & student access)
There are two ways of finding cases on legislative provisions - from Legal Search or from Legislation:
1. Select Legal Search from the blue top menu, and either:
~ use the Advance Search box on the left
~ ~ Type at least 3 letters of the Act name
~ ~ Select the provision on which the cases are required i.e. Section, Order, Article etc
~ ~ You may also select the Court Database from the TOC menu on the left. If you don't all courts are searched.
~ ~ You can search two Acts in combination, by clicking on 'Add more' in the Act text box.
~ ~ use the Miscellaneous Search box on the right
2. Navigate to the Legislation - from the TOC menu on the left, select the legislation (eg: Bare Acts), then select Table of Contents, then either:
~ Click on the red 'Commentary' button on the right of each provision. A new window will open with a blue 'Judgments' button in the top right-hand corner.
~ if there is no red icon, click on the hyperlinked provision itself, and then the blue 'Judgments' button in the top right-hand corner of the new window.
- Kanoon(open access)
~ Select Advanced Search
~ Type your section into the 'Document or Title or Citation' box. Alternatively, type a keyword
~ Type the name of the Act into the 'Title Only' box.
~ Select Acts at the bottom of the screen and select Section.
~ Click the 'Search' button.
~ Click on the Section in the new window.
~ you will see a 'Cited by' at the top of the screen, that lists all citing cases. The cases can be viewed by relevance or date.
Click on the red 'Commentary' button on the right of each provision. A new window will open with a blue 'Judgments' button in the top right-hand corner.
if there is no red icon, click on the hyperlinked provision itself, and then the blue 'Judgments' button in the top right-hand corner of the new window.
- SCC Online(UniMelb staff & student access)
~ Go to SCC Online and login with your University of Melbourne email address in the red login box marked 'IP Access' in the top the screen and then click the red 'sign in' button. Note: the first time you login, you will be asked to register your email address. You will not be asked to do this again, and no password is required.
~ From the SCC homepage, click on the blue 'Find Caselaw by Section' button.
Subsequent Judicial Consideration of a case - Case Citators
- Kanoon(open access)
~ The 'cited by' link takes you to the decisions in all courts and tribunals citing your case.
~ The 'cites' links links not only to cases but also to full-text Law Commission Reports and legislative provisions cited in your case.
- Manupatra : India Legal Law Database(UniMelb staff & student access) - includes sophisticated tools such as:
~ In a list of results, you will be told how many times your case has been cited and can click through to all citing cases.
~ Authority Check is an automated system that identifies later-citing cases. It does not include editorial information telling you whether your case is still good law.
~ An Interactive Timeline which allows you to select citing cases from a large collection of results based on eg: court and date. The results are displayed in a graphical format.
Books on Indian Courts & Cases
Appointment of Judges to the Supreme Court of India: Transparency, Accountability, and Independence by Call Number: eBookPublication Date: OUP, 2018
Asia-Pacific Judiciaries: Independence, Impartiality and Integrity by Call Number: eBookPublication Date: CUP, 2018See chapter 8: 'Judicial Independence and the Rise of the Supreme Court in India' by Rehan Abeyratne
Homosexuality in the Jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of India by Call Number: eBookPublication Date: Springer, 2017
Subordinate Courts of India: a Report on Access to Justice 2016Call Number: eBook (open access)Publication Date: Supreme Court of India, 2016
Cases on Muslim Law of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh by Call Number: eBookPublication Date: OUP, 2015
An Independent, Colonial Judiciary: a history of the Bombay High Court during the British Raj, 1862-1947 by Call Number: KT 1810.2 X1 CHANPublication Date: OUP, 2015
The Informal Constitution: unwritten criteria in selecting judges for the Supreme Court of India by Call Number: eBookPublication Date: OUP, 2014
