Case Search Tool | The Supreme Court of India Judgments

How to Use this Form?

• Scenario 01: Search By Petitioner and/or Respondent Name ➤ View Scenario 01
• Scenario 02: Search Cases between Range of Dates ➤ View Scenario 02
• Scenario 03: Search by Neutral Citation ➤ View Scenario 03

Overview of SCR Citations

The India’s Supreme Court has officially launched the process for the adoption of a Neutral Citation System, which was started on 6^th July 2023 and intends to build a standardized citation system for the Court's decisions.

Important Features

• Scope of Application: Provides neutral citations to all reported cases and orders contained in the Supreme Court Reports (SCR) from January 30, 1950, to January 07, 2019.
• The Structure of Citations: The assigned neutral citation takes a consistent alphanumeric three-section form (as in the example: 1950 INSC 1):

1. Year of the Decision (as in: 1950)

2. Court Code (as INSC representing India Supreme Court)

3. Consecutive Serial Number (such as 1)

It is recommended that all lawyers and judges use such citation form for citing cases/orders in the period defined above.

Overview of SCR Citations

Supreme Court Reports (SCR) is the official law reporter of Supreme Court of India. SCR being an officially published law report contains selected judgments and orders of the Supreme Court since its establishment in the year 1950.

Of all the available law reports in India such as Supreme Court Cases (SCC) or All India Reporter (AIR), the SCR citation enjoys greater official importance and is in line with the internationally accepted format like the Bluebook Citation.

Format and Structure of an SCR Citation

A typical SCR citation format looks like this:

{[Year]} {Volume Number}  {SCR}  {Starting Page}

Components of an SCR Citation Explained

• Square Brackets [YEAR]: The year of the publication/reporting in any SCR citation is always enclosed within square brackets [...]. This differentiates it from other reporters which employ round brackets (...) such as SCC.
• Volume Number: It refers the Supreme Court Report’s volume number for that specific year.
• Reporter Code (SCR): It is the abbreviation for Supreme Court Reports.
• Page Number: The starting page of the judgement in that particular volume of SCR.

 Key Rules of Format

1. Bracket Usage: Always use square brackets for SCR ([2023] 1 SCR 15). The use of round brackets (2023) is grammatically incorrect.
2. Parallel Citations: If there are parallel citations, in cases where there are multiple reporters, the legal standard is that either the Neutral Citation or the SCR citation should precede private reporters.

{Case Name,} {Neutral Citation} {SCR Citation} {SCC Citation}

3. Pinpoint Citation: For pointing out an exact paragraph/page in the judgement, include the pinpoint after the opening page:

Example: [2021] 3 SCR 102, 120 (or para 25).

Some Concrete Examples of SCR Citation

Name of Landmark Case      SCR Citation  Explanation/Breakdown

1. A. K. Gopalan v. State of Madras [1950] SCR 88 >> 1950, 1st volume of SCR, Page Number 88.