Citing Indian Case Law: A Guide for Foreign Researchers (AIR, SCC, Neutral Citation)

Foreign researchers citing Indian case law for the first time often default to Bluebook conventions built around US reporters, which do not map cleanly onto how Indian cases are actually reported and cited. A quick reference helps avoid citation errors that an Indian reviewer or examiner will immediately notice.

The main law reports

AIR (All India Reporter) is the oldest and most widely cited general reporter, citing as, for example, AIR 1973 SC 1461 (year, court, page). SCC (Supreme Court Cases) is the other dominant reporter for Supreme Court decisions and is often treated as the more authoritative citation in recent academic and judicial practice, cited as, for example, (1973) 4 SCC 225.

Neutral citation

Since the early 2010s, Indian courts, led by the Supreme Court, have adopted neutral (medium-neutral) citation, independent of any particular law report, in the format [Year] INSC [Number] for the Supreme Court (older format was the case name plus a unique court-assigned number). High Courts use their own neutral citation formats, for example [Year] DHC [Number] for the Delhi High Court. Neutral citation is useful precisely because it does not depend on access to a particular paid reporter.

OSCOLA and Bluebook adaptations

Both OSCOLA and the Bluebook have rules for citing foreign (non-US/non-UK) cases, but neither has dedicated, widely standardized Indian-specific tables the way they do for US or UK cases, so most Indian law journals and the Bar Council’s own style guidance instead favor a simplified format: case name, year, reporter citation, court. When submitting to an Indian journal, follow that journal’s specific style guide rather than assuming Bluebook or OSCOLA defaults will be accepted unmodified.

Where to actually find the cases

Indian Kanoon and the Supreme Court’s own e-SCR portal are freely accessible sources for primary case text; SCC Online and Manupatra are the major subscription databases used by Indian practitioners and most law schools.

Lexfolio’s LJLPS journal accepts both OSCOLA and Bluebook for law submissions and states its specific citation expectations on the author guidelines page for anyone preparing a submission involving Indian case law.