This document summarizes open access to legal materials in India. It provides an overview of the ancient and modern Indian legal system and hierarchy of courts. It then discusses several free government and private websites that provide access to primary legal sources like the Constitution, legislation, case law, and reports. These include NIC, India Code, Supreme Court of India, High Court websites, and private initiatives like India Kanoon and PRS Legislative Search. Subscription databases are also mentioned. The Bombay High Court library website provides links to key legal resources and cases.

1. IALL 2011- Kuala Lumpur
Panel Session: Law Librarians
7 December 2011
Open Access to Legal Materials in India
Uma Narayan
Chief Librarian, Bombay High Court
Mumbai, India

2. The Indian Legal System
 Ancient Indian Legal and Constitutional system established a
duty based society. It not only involved the duty of individual
towards the society but also the duty of the Ruler towards the
individuals and the society. There were many treatises in Ancient
India relating to the legal system. The most significant of them
are
 the Manusmriti –Laws of Manu . Brief English translation is
available in
http://sanskritdocuments.org/all_pdf/manusmriti.pdf
 Kautilya’s Arthasastra
http://hinduebooks.blogspot.com/2009/04/arthashastra-of-
chanakya-english.html
 The Common law was introduced by the British during their rule
in India which formed the basis of the present Indian Legal
system.
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3.  The jurisprudence followed in India is Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence
with cross-fertilization by Indian values.
 India follows the adversary system of legal procedure- the judge
acts as a neutral arbiter upholding the balance between the
contending rivals without actively taking part in the forensic
debate in the court.
 The Constitution of India is on a higher footing than ordinary
legislation. Parliamentary legislation inconsistent with the
Constitution can be declared as void by the Superior Courts.
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4. Hierarchy of Courts in India
 Supreme Court of India is the Apex
Supreme Court Court of the country located in New
Delhi.
 There are twenty-one High Courts in
India and have jurisdiction over
High Courts twenty-eight states and seven union
territories.
 The District Courts of India are the
District Courts courts established by the State
Government for every district or for
one or more revenue districts
together in each State.
Taluka Courts  A Taluka is an administrative
division, similar to a County
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5. Free Indian Legal Resources
I) Government websites
 The National Informatics Centre (NIC) is a premier ICT
organisation of Government of India.
 The Constitution of India was drafted by the Constituent
Assembly and was made the supreme law of the land in 1950 on
and with effect from January 26, 1950.
 The proceedings of the Constituent Assembly called Constituent
Assembly Debates available
http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/debates/debates.htm
 Constitution of India with latest amendment acts are freely
available in http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/welcome.html
 For index -wise access of the Constitution of India:
http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/coifiles/part.htm
 Legislation : The Central Government Acts are freely available in
India Code website http://indiacode.nic.in/ 5

6. I) Government websites
 Law Commission Reports of India can be accessed from the
Commission’s website maintained by Ministry of Law and
Justice, Government of India -
http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in
 Ministry of Law and Justice, Govt. of India -
http://lawmin.nic.in
 Indian judicial system is made up of Supreme Court of India and
twenty-one High Courts. These Courts have jurisdiction of over
a state, union territory or group of states and union territories.
The site http://www.indiancourts.nic.in/ will give the links to
websites of all courts in India.
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7.  The Causelists of the Supreme Court and Twenty-one High Courts
are available. Causelists are the schedule of cases to be heard by the
courts on following day http://indiancourts.nic.in/content.htm
 Case Status of the matters and the Daily Orders of various courts
can be accessed http://www.courtnic.nic.in/
 Court Judgments are available in http://judis.nic.in
 Supreme Court Reports – authentic publication of Supreme Court
of India judgments now available freely in this link
http://supremecourtofindia.nic.in/scr.htm
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8. Private websites providing free data
There are private websites where the legal data is freely available :
 India Kanoon : http://www.indiankanoon.org
 Vakil No.1 - http://www.vakilno1.com/index.html
 PRS legislative Search (an independent research initiative) :
http://www.prsindia.org/
 Laws of India ( a PRS initiative) to provide State Acts :
http://www.lawsofindia.org/index.php
 Indlii: http://www.indlii.org/index.aspx
 Lii of India: http://liiofindia.org - started in March 2011
 Legal India - http://www.legalindia.in
 Legal Service India: http://legalserviceindia.com
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9. Private Websites – Subscription based Online
services
 Manupatra: Central & State Acts, Court Judgments :
www.manupatra.com
 Indlaw – Central & State Acts, Court Judgments:
http://www.indlaw.com/
 SCC Online Web Edition: www.scconline.co.in
 AIR Web World : http://airwebworld.com/
 Laws4India – Tax laws and judgments
http://www.laws4india.com/Default.aspx
 CDJ Law Journal : www.cdjlawjournal.com
 Supreme Court Case Law : www.supremecourtcaselaw.com
 Legal Pundit : http://www.legalpundits.com/
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10. Bombay High Court Judges E-Law Library
The Bombay High Court Judges Library has taken an initiative to
provide the all important legal material for quick reference. Links
are provided from the Government websites to the latest
judgments of Supreme Court of India , & Bombay High Court
also the recent Government Notifications on various subjects.
http://bombayhighcourt.nic.in/libweb/judlibwebindex.html
If any one of you require any Indian Legal Material or Cases you are welcome to
send an email to our Library, we will try our best to assist you.
Our email id: judlib-bhc@nic.in
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11. Thank You very much
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