Understanding a Case Citation

NOT KNOWING THIS MIGHT EMBARRASS YOU SOMEDAY. SO BUCKLE UP NOW !

 

Every law student refer to various judgements every now and then. Some are Indian Judgements and some are of other legal system. But how to read a legal citation? Knowing how to read and write case citations is an imperative skill for everyone studying law. This article may help you with understanding of the basic elements. The complexity may be varied but this level of understanding is adequate for most of us.

 

How to read a simple case citation ?

Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala  AIR 1973 SC 1461

 

 

The 1^st party is generally called Plaintiff and the 2^nd Party is Defendant

 

S. R. Bommai v. Union of India [1994] 2 SCR 644: AIR 1994 SC 1918: (1994)3 SCC1

Sometimes for a particular case there may be more than one citations. These are called Equivalent Citations or Parallel Citations. Generally AIR, SCC, SCR, JT and SCALE are used to refer cases but there are more.

 

Download List of Law Journals/Reporters / Publications (INDIAN) : Source Manupatra : Download Here

Download List of various Abbreviations /Reporters etc. (International) : Source Firstpoint / Thomson Reuters : Download Here

 

Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] UKHL 100, Rylands v Fletcher [1868] UKHL 1 Here UKHL means United Kingdom House of Lords

 

Sometimes a Citation is like this O.A. Nos. 1096 and 1097 of 2008 and Application No. 4695 of 2008 in C.S. No. 949 of 2008

Here our previous knowledge won’t help. Lets learn some more Abbreviations. Here O.A. and C.S. or A. No. are Case Types or Types of Cases. By referring the list we will come to know that O.A. means Original Application, C.S. means Civil Suit and A.No. means Application No.

 

Below is a detailed list of types of cases which might come handy. Source http://causelists.nic.in/

“CASE TYPES”

APPELLATE SIDE

Main Case Types

WRIT APPEAL : W.A.

WRIT APPEAL (MADURAI) : W.A. (MD)

FIRST APPEAL : A.S.

SECOND APPEAL : S.A.

ORIGINAL SIDE APPEAL : O.S.A.

SPECIAL TRIBUNAL APPEAL : S.T.A.

CIVIL MISCELLANEOUS APPEAL : C.M.A.

CIVIL MIS.SECOND APPEAL : C.M.S.A.

LETTERS PATENT APPEAL : L.P.A.

SPECIAL TRIBUNAL PETITION : S.T.P.

CONTEMPT APPEAL : CONT.A.

CROSS OBJECTION : CROSS.OBJ.

TRADE MARKS APPEAL : T.M.A.

TRADE MARKS SECOND APPEAL : T.M.S.A.

TAX CASES : T.C.

TAX CASE APPEAL : T.C.A.

TAX CASE REVISION : T.C.R.

REFERRED CASE PETITION : R.C.P.

CIVIL REVISION PETITION : C.R.P.

CIVIL REVISION PETITION (PD) : C.R.P. (PD)

MATRIMONIAL CAUSES : MC

REVIEW APPLICATION : REV.APPL.

 

Miscellaneous Case Types

MISCELLANEOUS PETITION : M.P.

CAVEAT : CAVEAT

 

Note: For all cases filed in Madurai Bench, the letters ‘MD’ shall be added in Brackets along  side the respective abbreviations.

 

CRIMINAL SIDE

Main Case Types

HABEAS CORPUS PETITION : H.C.P.

CRL. REVISION CASE : CRL. R.C.

CRIMINAL APPEAL : CRL.A.

REFERRED TRIAL : R.T.

CRIMINAL ORIGINAL PETITION : CRL. O.P.

REFERENCE CASE : R.C.

Miscellaneous Case Types

MISCELLANEOUS PETITION : M.P.

 

Note: For all cases filed in Madurai Bench, the letters ‘MD’ shall be added in Brackets along side the respective abbreviations.

 

WRIT SIDE

Main Case Types

WRIT PETITION : W.P.

WRIT PETITION (MADURAI) : W.P. (MD)

WRIT PETITION (TRIBUNAL) : W.P. (T)

REVIEW APPLICATION : REV. APPL.

Miscellaneous Case Types

MISCELLANEOUS PETITION : M.P.

Note: For all cases filed in Madurai Bench, the letters ‘MD’ shall be added in Brackets along side the respective abbreviations.

 

ORIGINAL SIDE

Main Case Types

CIVIL SUIT : C.S.

INSOLVENCY PETITION : I.P.

INSOLVENCY NOTICE I.N.

ORIGINAL PETITION : O.P.

COMPANY PETITION : C.P.

CONTEMPT PETITION : CONT. PETN

ELECTION PETITION : ELEC. PETN

TESTAMENTARY ORIGINAL SUIT : T.O.S.

ORIGINAL MATRIMONIAL SUIT : O.M.S

ORIGINAL APPLICATIONS : O.A.

 

Miscellaneous Case Types

ORIGINAL APPLICATION : O.A.

APPLICATION : APPLICATION

COMPANY APPLICATION : COM. APPLICATION

SUB-APPLICATION : SUB-APPLICATION

EXECUTION PETITION : E.P.

CAVEAT : CAVEAT

 

Reading Material to understand foreign citations better : Visit Here

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