Supplementary Citation Guidelines for Indian Legal Materials

The following guidance supplements the Taylor & Francis Standard Reference Style:
OSCOLA, available here. It relates to India-specific materials: (1) case law, (2) Official
materials and reports.

(1) Indian Legislation

For example, OSCOLA requires:

The Constitution of India 1950, art 14.
The Constitution of India 1950, sch 9.
The Indian Penal Code 1860, s 376(2)(g).
The Indian Contract Act 1872, ss 25, 26 & 27.
The Code of Civil Procedure 1908, order 1, rule 3.
Depositories (Appeal to Securities Appellate Tribunal) Rules 2000, rule 7.
The Competition (Amendment) Bill 2012 (pending).
The Prevention of Money Laundering (Amendment) Bill 2011 (passed by Lok Sabha, 29
November 2012).

(2) Indian Case Law

A case citation for a published judgment includes the full name of the case, the citation as per
the reporter in which it is published and the first page of the case followed by the pin point
reference to a specific page or paragraph. In general, AIR or SCC citations are to be preferred—
other reporters may be used if these are unavailable.

For the acronyms to be used for Indian law reports, please refer to the Cardiff Index to Legal
Abbreviations, available here.

In order to cite an un-published judgment, first note the name of the parties followed by the
case/appeal number. It should be followed by the name of the Court and the date the judgment
was passed in parenthesis. The name of the parties should be separated with a ‘v’. The
case/appeal number will be the number assigned to the judgment by the Court.

How to cite published decisions: Names of the Parties, Citation.

Example:

Kesavananda Bharati v State of Kerala AIR 1973 SC 1461, 1480.

Charan Lal Sahu v Union Carbide (1989) 1 SCC 674.

Other reporters:
Singh v Punjab (1980) 2 SCJ 475, 524.
Navjot Sandhu and Mohd Arif v State of Delhi 2011 (8) SCALE 328; 2012 (1) ACR 477 (SC);
2012 1 AWC246 SC; 2012 (2) CGLJ 229; 2011 (3) Crimes 228 (SC); JT 2011 (9) SC 563.

How to cite unpublished decisions: Names of the Parties, Appeal Number (Court name,
Date).

Examples:

Mohammed Ajmal Mohammad Amir Kasab v State of Maharashtra, Criminal Appeal No 1899-
1900 and 1961 of 2011 and Transfer Petition (Criminal) No 30 of 2012 (Supreme Court, 29
August 2012).
State of Bihar v Nirmal Kumar Gupta, Civil Appeal No 128 of 2013 (Supreme Court, 8 January
2013).
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra v Govt of NCT of Delhi, WP (Crl) 1188/2009 & Crl MA 9918/2009
(Delhi High Court, 2 January 2013).

Boards and Tribunals

The guidance below is for unpublished cases only.

i. Securities Appellate Tribunal

Orders of the Securities Appellate Tribunal of India are cited by providing the names of the
parties, the application or appeal number, and in parenthesis ‘Securities Appellate Tribunal’
and the date of the order. The name of the parties should be separated with a ‘v’.

How to cite: Name of the Parties, Application/Appeal No (as applicable) (Securities Appellate
Tribunal, Date of Order).

Example:

Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd v Securities and Exchange Board of India, Misc
Application No 133 of 2013 and Appeal No 206 of 2013 (Securities Appellate Tribunal, 4
February 2014).

ii. Competition Commission of India

Orders of the Competition Commission of India are cited by providing the names of the parties,
the case number, and in parenthesis ‘Competition Commission of India’ and the date of the
order. The name of the parties should be separated with a ‘v’.

How to cite: Name of the Parties, Case No (Competition Commission of India, Date of Order).

Example:

Ajay Devgan Films v Yash Raj Films Private Ltd, Case No 66 of 2012 (Competition
Commission of India, 5 November 2012).
DLF City Club Members Welfare Association v DLF Recreational Foundation Ltd, Case No
25 of 2013, (Competition Commission of India, 1 July 2013).

iii. Intellectual Property Appellate Board

Orders of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board are cited by providing the names of the
parties, the case number, and in parenthesis ‘Intellectual Property Appellate Board’ and the
date of the order. The name of the parties should be separated with a ‘v’.

How to cite: Name of the Parties, Case No (Intellectual Property Appellate Board, Date of
Order).

Example:

Akar Enterprises v Nanjundeshwara Traders and Ors, ORA/82/2014/TM/CH (Intellectual

Property Appellate Board, 1 March 2016).

(3) Official Materials and Reports

i. Parliamentary Committee Reports

Parliamentary Committee Reports are cited by first mentioning the name of the Committee that
passed the Report, followed by the House of Parliament that set-up the Committee, the Title of
the Report in italics, and the year.

How to cite: Name of the Committee, House of Parliament, Title of the Report, Year.

Example:

Committee on Agriculture, Lok Sabha, The Multi-State Co-Operative Societies (Amendment)

Bill, 2010.

ii. Reports by Ministries

In order to cite a Report by a Ministry, first mention the name of the Ministry which released
the Report followed by the parent Government, i.e. Government of India, and the title of the
Report in italics. For Reports available on the internet mention the web address (also known as
the Uniform Resource Locator or URL), the phrase ‘accessed’, and the date the web-source
was last seen by the user.

How to cite: Name of the Ministry, Government of India, Title of the Report, <URL> access
date.
Example:

Ministry of Finance, Government of India, Annual Report 2012-13,

<http://www.finmin.nic.in/reports/AnnualReport2012-13.pdf> accessed 11 November 2013.

iii. Parliamentary Debates

Parliamentary Debates are cited by first referring to the type of debate followed by the name
of the Speaker/Participant, the title of the debate in italics, the House of Parliament which held
the debate, and the date of the debate in parenthesis.

How to cite: Type of debate | by/to | Speaker/Participant, Title of Debate, House of parliament
(Date).

Example:

Statement by Prime Minister, Statement Regarding Civil Nuclear Energy Cooperation with the
USA, Lok Sabha (27 February 2006).

iv. Law Commission Reports

Law Commission Reports are cited by first mentioning the Report number followed by the
phrase ‘Law Commission of India Report’, the title/ subject of the Report in italics, the page
number containing the relevant information and the date of publication of the Report in
parenthesis. In case the Report is available on the internet, it is followed by the web address
(the URL) and the phrase ‘accessed’, and the date the web-source was last seen by the user.

How to cite: Report number Law Commission of India Report, Title/Subject, cited page
number (year), <URL> access date.

Example:

181st Law Commission of India Report, Amendment to Section 106 of the Transfer of Property
Act 1882, 8 (2002) <http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/181rpt.pdf> accessed 11
November 2013.