Indian Legal Citation Formatter
Format any judgment in neutral citation, SCC style, or AIR style — updated live as you type.
Citation style
[Number required for neutral citation]
Informational aid, not legal advice — verify against the current Act and your jurisdiction's rules before relying.
Indian legal citation styles explained
Indian courts and practitioners use three main citation conventions. Understanding which to use — and when — is essential for correctly citing authority in pleadings, written submissions, and legal memoranda.
Neutral citation
The Supreme Court of India introduced the neutral citation scheme by Practice Direction dated 22 January 2010. The format assigns a unique identifier to every judgment that is independent of any commercial law reporter. For the Supreme Court: YYYY INSC N, where N is the sequential number of the judgment in that calendar year. For example, 2024 INSC 423 is the 423rd judgment of the Supreme Court in 2024.
High Courts have progressively adopted neutral citations with court-specific codes — for example, INDLHC for the Delhi High Court, INBHC for Bombay, INMHC for Madras, INKHC for Kerala, and so on. Neutral citations are now the preferred citation style in pleadings filed in the Supreme Court and most High Courts.
SCC style
SCC (Supreme Court Cases) is the leading law report published by Eastern Book Company. The citation format is (YYYY) Vol SCC Page. The year is in parentheses (not square brackets, as in some common law jurisdictions). Where the case is from a court other than the Supreme Court, the court is noted in a parenthetical: e.g., (2023) 4 SCC (Cri) 512 for criminal matters.
AIR style
AIR (All India Reporter), published by All India Reporter Pvt. Ltd., is one of the oldest Indian law reports. The format is AIR YYYY Court Page. The court abbreviations follow AIR conventions — SC for the Supreme Court, and state-specific abbreviations for High Courts (Bom, Del, Mad, Cal, All, Ker, Guj, etc.).
Which style to use?
For filings in the Supreme Court and most High Courts, the neutral citation is now preferred and often required. SCC and AIR citations remain standard for citing judgments published in those reporters, particularly where the neutral citation is not available (pre-2010 judgments). Many practitioners cite both: neutral citation first, followed by SCC or AIR.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Indian neutral citation scheme?
The Supreme Court introduced neutral citations via Practice Direction dated 22 January 2010. Every judgment is assigned a unique sequential number: YYYY INSC N for the Supreme Court, and court-specific codes for High Courts (e.g., INDLHC for Delhi HC). The citation is stable regardless of which law reporter publishes the judgment.
How does the SCC citation style work?
SCC (Supreme Court Cases) is published by Eastern Book Company. The format is (YYYY) Vol SCC Page — for example, (2024) 3 SCC 410. The volume and page numbers refer to the physical or digital volumes of SCC.
What is the AIR citation format?
AIR (All India Reporter) citations follow AIR YYYY Court Page — for example, AIR 2001 SC 3815. 'SC' denotes the Supreme Court; High Courts use their own abbreviations (Bom, Del, Mad, Cal, etc.).
Which courts does this tool support?
The tool supports the Supreme Court of India and 22 High Courts, plus NCLAT, NCLT, and the National Green Tribunal. Court codes follow the notified neutral citation codes where available.
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