Indian legal glossary

An Advocate-on-Record (AoR) is an advocate entitled to file matters before the Supreme Court of India on behalf of a lit…

An affidavit is a written statement of facts, signed by the deponent and sworn (or solemnly affirmed) before a person au…

The All India Bar Examination (AIBE) is the qualifying examination conducted by the Bar Council of India (BCI) that cand…

Amicus curiae — literally "friend of the court" — is an advocate or expert appointed by a court to assist with a matter,…

Anticipatory bail is a pre-arrest bail — an order of the court directing that, if the applicant is arrested on a specifi…

Article 226 of the Constitution of India confers writ jurisdiction on every High Court — the power to issue directions, …

Article 32 of the Constitution of India guarantees the right to move the Supreme Court for the enforcement of fundamenta…

A bail application is a formal petition to the court seeking release of a person from custody — either pre-arrest (antic…

The Bar Council of India (BCI) is the statutory body that regulates the legal profession and legal education in India. E…

The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) is India's criminal procedure code, replacing the Code of Criminal P…

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) is the principal criminal code of India, enacted in December 2023 and brought in…

The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA) is the Indian law of evidence, replacing the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 with …

A cause list is the official daily list of cases scheduled to be heard before each judge on a given court day. Published…

A charge sheet — formally a "final report" under Section 193 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS, 2023), pre…

The CNR Number (Case Number Record) is a unique 16-digit alphanumeric identifier assigned by India's eCourts system to e…

The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 is the principal procedural statute governing civil litigation in India. Unlike its cr…

The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) was the principal procedural statute for criminal law in India for over five…

A cognizable offence is one in which a police officer may arrest without a warrant and investigate without the court's p…

A decree is the formal expression of a court's adjudication of the rights of parties in a civil suit. Defined in Section…

The eCourts Mission Mode Project is the Government of India's flagship judicial-computerization initiative, jointly impl…

The First Information Report — FIR — is the document recorded by a police officer upon receiving information about the c…

A hearing is any occasion on which a court takes up a case for substantive or procedural action — the listing at which p…

The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) was the substantive criminal code of India for over 160 years. Drafted under Lord Maca…

An interim order — also called an interlocutory order — is a temporary order passed by a court during the pendency of a …

A judgment is the statement by a judge of the grounds on which a decree or order is based. Defined in Section 2(9) of th…

Locus standi — literally "place to stand" — is the legal principle that determines who has the right to bring a case bef…

A memorandum of appeal is the foundational pleading in an appellate proceeding — the document through which an aggrieved…

The National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) is a real-time online dashboard of pending and disposed cases across Indian court…

An order is the formal expression of any decision by a court that is not a decree. Defined in Section 2(14) of the Code …

A petition is a formal written application to a court requesting specific relief or seeking the exercise of judicial aut…

A plaint is the foundational pleading that institutes a civil suit in India. Filed by the plaintiff under Order VII of t…

Res judicata — "a matter judged" — is the legal doctrine that once a court of competent jurisdiction has passed a final …

A review petition asks the same court that passed a judgment or order to reconsider its own decision — a narrow remedy i…

A revision petition invokes the supervisory jurisdiction of a higher court over a subordinate court — distinct from an a…

The Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 — universally k…

Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (1973) — re-enacted substantially unchanged as Section 528 of the Bharatiy…

A Special Leave Petition — SLP — is the instrument by which a party approaches the Supreme Court of India seeking its di…

A summons is an official document issued by a court requiring a person to appear before it on a specified date — either …

A vakalatnama is the written instrument by which a party (the principal / vakil-giver) authorizes an advocate (the vakil…

A written statement is the defendant's formal response to a plaint in a civil suit. Filed under Order VIII of the Code o…