To get a certified copy of a court order you apply to the copying department of the court that passed the order, or of the court where the case record is now kept, on the court's prescribed copying application. You describe the document precisely, pay the copying charges the state schedule prescribes, and collect the copy once the copying department has prepared it, compared it with the original on the file, and the authorised officer has signed and sealed the endorsement. Most of the delay people suffer comes from applying to the wrong office or describing the document too loosely to be traced.
A certified copy is the court's own authenticated reproduction of an order, judgment, deposition, plaint or exhibit on the file. A photocopy from the bar room, or a plain printout of the order text, is useful for reading but is not the same thing when a bank, a registrar, a tribunal or an appellate court specifically asks for a certified copy.
Before you start
- The case number and year, and the cause title - the names of the parties exactly as they appear on the file.
- The name of the court; for the High Court, the bench and the court room.
- The date of the order or judgment, and the order, exhibit or deposition number if you have it.
- Your role in the case - party, legal heir, attorney or advocate - and proof of it.
- Identity proof, and a vakalatnama or memo of appearance if you apply as an advocate.
- An idea of the copying charges the court's schedule prescribes, so you can pay at the counter without a second trip. A ready civil litigation format for the application avoids most counter objections.
If you are not a party and not an advocate on record, be ready to explain your interest, because a third party generally needs the court's leave. A civil litigation file in particular is copied only for those who can show a right to it.
Steps
- 1. Confirm which court holds the record. An order passed by a court but later sent up in appeal, or a file transferred on a change of court, may sit with a different office. Asking the copying department of the court that actually holds the file saves the first delay.
- 2. Take the prescribed copying application. The copying or records department keeps the court's prescribed form; many courts also accept an application generated through the eCourts services portal. Fill it in the court's own format rather than on plain paper.
- 3. Describe the document exactly. State the case number, the date of the order, and whether you want the order, the judgment, a deposition, the plaint, the written statement or a particular exhibit. "The order in my case" without a date is the commonest reason a search fails.
- 4. Attach your authority. A party files identity proof and proof of the case relationship; an advocate files the vakalatnama or memo of appearance; a third party files the court's leave. Without this the application is returned.
- 5. Pay the copying charges and keep the receipt. Charges are calculated on the folios copied, as the schedule prescribes. The receipt carries the copying file number you will track.
- 6. Ask for the urgent certified copy route where time is short. Where a limitation period or a compliance date is running, file an urgency application with the reasons. The court can direct priority preparation; this is a request, not a right, and it is granted on the reasons shown.
- 7. Collect and check the copy. Before you leave the counter, confirm that the copy shows the court's name, the case number, the parties, the date and signature of the order, the copyist's comparison certificate and the certifying officer's signature and seal.
Documents to keep
- The stamped acknowledgment of the copying application.
- The copying charge receipt with the copying file number.
- The certified copy itself, kept flat and unmarked.
- A plain photocopy for your own use, so the certified copy stays clean for filing or for an execution matter.
What goes wrong
- Applying to the wrong office. A tribunal, an execution court or a different district will not copy another court's file; the application is simply returned and you lose the weeks you spent waiting.
- A wrong or incomplete case number. One wrong digit and the search fails; the cause title as printed on the file is the safest reference.
- No proof of being a party or advocate. The copying section will not release a copy to a stranger to the record.
- Treating a bar-room photocopy as a certified copy. It is not, and it will be rejected where an authenticated copy is required.
- Not paying for the folios. If the document runs longer than expected, the copying department asks for the balance before releasing it.
- Leaving the urgency application for the last day. A certified copy cannot be produced on the day a limitation expires.
Common questions
Who can apply for a certified copy?
A party to the case, an advocate on record, and a legal heir or legal representative who can show the relationship. A third party must show the court's leave or a statutory right to the document.
How long does a certified copy take?
It depends on the copying department's workload and the length of the document. Routine copies are prepared in the order the applications are received; an urgency application, if allowed, moves a copy up the queue.
Is a certified copy the same as a printout of the order?
No. Where a court issues an electronically signed copy through the eCourts services portal it is a certified copy; a plain printout of the text is not.
Can I get a copy of an order passed in another district?
Yes, by applying to the copying department of the court that holds that record, or, where available, by applying through the eCourts services portal for an e-copy.
FileX Advocates & Legal Consultants, Kolkata, obtains certified copies and drafts the applications that go with them before the Calcutta High Court, the City Civil and Sessions courts and the district courts. Call +91 7439811422 or WhatsApp us to begin.