How to Get a Certified Copy of a Court Order or Judgment

A certified copy of a court order or judgment is a copy issued by the court itself, carrying a certificate that it is a true copy, signed with the officer's name and designation and sealed. You get it by filing a copy application with the copying section of the court that passed the order (or through that court's online copying system, where one exists) and paying the copying fee. If you need it for an appeal, apply quickly: the law excludes the time the court takes to give you the copy, but not the time you take before applying.

A printout of an order downloaded from the eCourts website or a High Court website is useful for reading, but it is not a certified copy. Appellate courts, registrars, banks and many government offices will ask for the certified version.

What makes a copy "certified"

Judicial records are public documents under section 74 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA), which replaced the Indian Evidence Act from 1 July 2024. Section 75 of the BSA (old section 76 of the Evidence Act) says that the public officer who has custody of such a document must give a copy, on payment of the legal fees, with a certificate at the foot stating that it is a true copy. The certificate must be dated, signed by the officer with name and official title, and sealed where the officer is allowed to use a seal.

Section 76 of the BSA then allows these certified copies to be produced to prove the contents of the original. That is why a certified copy can be filed in another court or office without anyone having to summon the original record.

When you are likely to need one

• Filing an appeal. Order XLI Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, as amended with effect from 2002, requires a memorandum of appeal to be accompanied by a copy of the judgment. High Courts can make their own amendments and rules on what must be filed, including whether the copy must be certified. Check the rules of the court you are going to.
• Filing a revision or review, or a petition in the High Court that challenges a lower court order.
• Executing a decree, or showing a decree or order to a registration office, revenue office or bank (for example, to mutate land records after a partition decree).
• Proving an earlier order in a later case, such as a maintenance order in an enforcement proceeding.
• Submitting a court order to a foreign authority, which may also ask for further attestation.

Where to apply, and who can apply

Apply to the copying section (sometimes called the copying agency or certified copy branch) of the court that passed the order. For a district or taluka court this is usually a counter in the court complex. High Courts have their own copying branches, and the Supreme Court has an online e-copying system.

Parties to the case can apply as of right. If a lawyer is applying on your behalf, the lawyer should be on record through a vakalatnama filed in that case. Non-parties are treated differently. In criminal cases, section 404(5) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) lets any person affected by a judgment or order get a copy on paying the prescribed charges, and section 404(6) leaves it to High Court rules to decide when people who are not affected can get copies. Civil copying rules are also made by each High Court, and a stranger to the case may be asked to show why the copy is needed.

Urgent and ordinary copies

Most courts offer two speeds. An ordinary copy is issued in turn. An urgent copy costs an extra fee and is prepared faster. The fee per page, the urgency fee and the time within which the copy is issued are set by each High Court's rules, so there is no single national figure.

The Supreme Court's e-copying manual is a useful illustration of how this works. It lists urgent certified copies, ordinary certified copies and plain ordinary copies as separate categories, takes payment online through Bharatkosh, and says that the first digital copy is provided free of cost. Advocates-on-Record, parties in person and appearing counsel register and apply there, and third parties can apply for the records the rules allow them to have.

Getting a certified copy online

Online certified copies are now available in several courts, but the system is court by court:

• Supreme Court: the e-copying portal accepts applications in pending and disposed cases. Copies can be delivered as digitally signed PDFs by email, by speed post, or collected at the counter.
• Some High Courts and their district courts run e-true copy or online certified copy services. The Uttarakhand High Court, for example, offers an eTrue Copy service on its website.
• Elsewhere you may still have to file a paper application at the copying counter, or get help from the e-Sewa Kendra in the court complex where there is one.

Before you rely on a digitally signed copy, check that the court or office where you will file it accepts the electronic version. Most do, but some offices still ask for a paper copy with the physical seal.

How to apply, step by step

1. Note the exact case details: court, case type, case number and year, names of parties, and the date of the order or judgment you need.
2. Decide what you need. A certified copy of the judgment, the decree (in civil suits the decree is a separate document), an interim order, a deposition or an exhibit. Ask for each one by name.
3. Fill in the copy application on the court's form, or prepare a short certified copy application giving the case details, the documents required, whether you want urgent or ordinary delivery, and your capacity (party, advocate for a party, or other).
4. Pay the copying fee, usually through copying stamps, folios, court fee or an online payment, as the court's rules require. Keep the receipt or acknowledgment number.
5. Track the application. Many courts give a date for collection or send an SMS. Check the copy against the original order for missing pages or wrong dates before you leave the counter.
6. If the copy is for an appeal, note the date you applied and the date the copy was ready. Both dates usually appear on the certified copy itself, and they matter for limitation.

Free copies for an accused person

Section 404 of the BNSS (old section 363 of the CrPC) gives an accused person specific rights. When the accused is sentenced to imprisonment, a copy of the judgment must be given immediately after it is pronounced, free of cost. On application, the accused must also be given a certified copy without delay, and that certified copy is free in every case where the judgment can be appealed by the accused. Where a death sentence is passed or confirmed by the High Court, a certified copy must be given immediately and free, whether or not the accused applies. Other affected persons pay the prescribed charges, though the court may waive them for a special reason.

Limitation: the time for the copy is excluded

Appeals, revisions and reviews have short deadlines. Section 12(2) of the Limitation Act, 1963 excludes the day the judgment was pronounced and the time requisite for obtaining a copy of the decree, sentence or order. Section 12(3) also excludes the time needed to get a copy of the judgment. So if the court takes three weeks to give you the copy, those three weeks do not count against you.

If a deadline has already passed, you may need to ask the appellate court to condone the delay with a condonation of delay application, explaining the time taken with dates. Our guide on condonation of delay under section 5 explains how courts look at such requests.

Using the copy in your next step

Once you have the certified copy, file it with your memorandum of appeal or other petition as the rules require, and keep a photocopy for yourself. If the order was passed in a case where your lawyer has changed, our guide on vakalatnamas and changing your lawyer explains how the new advocate comes on record. Where the next step is an appeal or execution and you want help with it, you can find a civil litigation lawyer through LegalFirms.