How to Find Your Court Case

Searching for a court case in India can be done in several ways depending on what information you have. This guide walks through each method, explains what it does and does not find, and gives tips for cases that appear to be missing.

Three ways to search for a court case

There are three methods to look up a court case, and knowing which one to use first will save you time.

1. CNR number search (most reliable)

The Case Number Register (CNR) number is a 16-character code assigned to every case filed in district and high courts across India. It looks like this: DLWT010028682023. The first four characters identify the court, followed by digits for the case and year.

CNR is the best way to search because it is unique to a single case, it does not change over the life of the case, and it works the same way across all courts in India. If you have the CNR number, use it.

2. Case number search

Each court assigns its own internal case number when a case is filed. For example, a High Court writ petition might be numbered WP(C) 12345/2023. A civil suit in a district court might be CS No. 234/2023.

Case number search works well when you have the exact case number from a notice or court order. It requires you to also know the court where the case is filed, since the same case number can exist in multiple courts across the country.

3. Party name search (least reliable)

If you do not have the CNR or case number, you can search by the name of one of the parties. This is the least reliable method for several reasons. Common names like Sharma, Singh, or Verma return dozens of results. Misspellings — even minor ones — cause a search to return no results. Transliteration from Devanagari scripts varies, so the same name may be recorded differently in court records.

Use name search as a last resort. If the results show more than a handful of cases, you will need additional information to identify the right one.

Step-by-step: searching with a CNR number

1. Go to the casestatus.in homepage.
2. Enter your 16-character CNR number in the search box. You can type it in upper case or lower case — both are accepted.
3. Press Enter or tap the search button.
4. The result page appears within a few seconds.

A successful result shows the full case title, the names of the petitioner and respondent, the current status (pending, disposed, or adjourned), the next hearing date if one is scheduled, and a list of orders with links to download the PDFs where available.

What "not found" means

If the search returns no result, one of the following is likely:

• The CNR was entered incorrectly. Check for transposed digits or a missing character.
• The case was filed very recently. Freshly filed cases sometimes take 24 to 48 hours to appear.
• The case is older than 2015 and CNR was not assigned retrospectively by that court.
• The case is before a special tribunal — ITAT, NCLAT, DRT, or similar — that uses a different numbering system and is not covered by the standard CNR format.

Troubleshooting when a case cannot be found

Check the CNR format

A CNR number is always exactly 16 characters. There are no spaces, slashes, or hyphens inside it. If your filing receipt shows the CNR with a space or dash in the middle, remove those before searching. For example, DLWT 0100 2868 2023 should be entered as DLWT010028682023.

Try alternate spellings for party name searches

If you are searching by name and getting no results, try a shorter version of the name. For example, if searching for "Ramesh Kumar Agarwal" returns nothing, try just "Agarwal" or "Ramesh Kumar". Court records often abbreviate middle names or record names in a different order than you expect.

Cases from before 2015

CNR numbers were introduced at different times across Indian courts. Many cases filed before 2013–2015 in some states do not have a CNR assigned. For these older cases, you may need to use the original case number and contact the court directly or visit the court's own records system.

Special tribunals

Cases before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT), and similar bodies are numbered under their own systems. These case numbers look different from district or high court CNRs. If your case is before one of these tribunals, the 16-character CNR format does not apply.

Fresh filings

If a case was filed in the last 24 to 48 hours, it may not yet appear in search results. This is normal. Wait one business day and search again. If the case still does not appear after 48 hours, contact your advocate or visit the court registry to confirm the CNR was issued.

What to do with only a partial case reference

You have only the year and an approximate case number

If you know the case number and year but not the CNR, try searching by case number on casestatus.in. You will need to select the correct court and case type. If the case number is not unique enough to identify your case, the court's own cause lists — published daily on the court's website — can help. Cause lists show all cases scheduled for hearing each day and include CNR numbers alongside case numbers.

You have only the party name

Enter the party name in the search box and be prepared to scroll through results. If the name is common, you may see many entries. Narrow down by looking at the filing year or the court name shown next to each result. Once you identify the right case, note the CNR from the result page and save it for future searches.

You know only the advocate's name

Advocate names are not searchable on casestatus.in. Court records link cases to parties, not to their legal representatives. If you only know the name of the advocate handling your case, contact them directly for the CNR number. Alternatively, if you received any court notice or summons, the CNR should appear on that document — look at the top or bottom of the notice for a 16-character code.

A worked example

Priya Mehta received a legal notice. The notice refers to "CS No. 234/2023" filed in the Delhi District Court. She does not have the CNR number.

Here is what she should do:

1. Visit the court registry in person or call her advocate and ask for the CNR number. The court staff can look up CS No. 234/2023 and provide the CNR.
2. Once she has the CNR — for example, DLNW010023402023 — she enters it in the casestatus.in search box on the homepage.
3. The result page shows both parties (including her name as respondent), the filing date, the current status, and the next scheduled hearing date.
4. She bookmarks the URL (for example, https://casestatus.in/case/district-court/DLNW010023402023) so she can check back before each hearing without having to search again.

The key step is getting the CNR first. Once she has it, checking the case status takes under ten seconds on any device.

Record-keeping tips

Court cases often run for years. A small amount of organisation at the start will save significant effort later.

• Note the CNR immediately. When a case is filed, the court issues a filing receipt. The CNR appears on this receipt. Write it down or photograph it before leaving the court premises.
• Save the casestatus.in URL. After your first successful search, bookmark the case page URL in your browser. The URL contains the CNR and takes you directly to the case without any typing. Share this link with your advocate or family members who also need to track the case.
• Screenshot the first result. Take a screenshot of the initial search result showing the case title, parties, and filing date. Keep it in a folder alongside your physical documents. If there is ever confusion about which case is which, this provides quick confirmation.
• Record hearing dates. After each hearing, note the next date shown in the case status and add it to your calendar with a reminder two or three days before. Courts sometimes change hearing dates at short notice — check the case status again a day before the hearing to confirm the date has not shifted.