Legal Street

For lawyers in litigation

Find the precedent you can stand on, keep up with the law that moves around it, and publish the argument you want on the record.

Precedent search

Ratio beta

Ask a legal question in plain English. Results rank by how later benches actually used each case — and every one tells you whether it is still good law, which paragraph to cite, and who has argued against it.

Supreme Court precedents · open Ratio →

Weekly newsletter

Indian Legal Brief beta

Every Monday, the Supreme Court rulings, regulatory changes and practice insights that matter to your work — read in the time it takes to finish a coffee.

Free · every Monday morning · unsubscribe anytime

Latest Issue

Cover story Week of Aug 24–30

Tata Steel's ₹1,781 Crore GST Demand Falls for a Recited 'Suppression'

The Supreme Court quashes Tata Steel's ₹890-crore GST demand and matching penalty — a Section 74 notice must plead the foundational facts of fraud, not recite 'suppression'. Plus: the Tribunals Reforms Act comes into force, and Subhash Chandra's ₹22,006-crore liability settles at ₹6.5 crore.

Read this issue

Past Issues

View all →

Cover story Week of Aug 17–23

Nine Judges Rework the 'Industry' Test — Prospectively Only

A nine-judge bench reworks the 1978 Bangalore Water Supply 'industry' test — but only prospectively. Plus: the three-year practice rule for civil judges is cut to one, and the UP Gangsters Act is held 'stillborn'.

Cover story Week of Aug 10–16

No GST Arrest Without Serving the 'Reasons to Believe' Order

The Supreme Court held that no arrest can be made under the CGST Act until the Section 69 order recording 'reasons to believe' is communicated to the accused. Plus: Parliament rebuilds the tribunals architecture with a National Tribunals Commission, and trading on UPSI is presumed insider trading.

Cover story Week of Aug 3–9

Every New Car Needs Four Years of Third-Party Cover

The Supreme Court extended mandatory third-party cover to four years for new cars and six for new two-wheelers and told IRDAI to restructure motor policies, after finding 56 per cent of India's vehicles uninsured. Plus: new digital-arrest directions, and the Court's sanctioned strength rises to 38.

Cover story Week of Jul 27–Aug 2

Retrospective Green Clearances Need a Statute, Not a Memo

The Supreme Court quashed the 2021 Office Memorandum that let projects built without environmental clearance regularise after the fact — the Centre may still allow post-facto clearance, but only by statutory notification. Plus: whole-life sentences upheld, and UAPA bail after twelve years in custody.

Cover story Week of July 20–26

Inadequate Grounds of Arrest Are Not No Grounds at All

The Supreme Court set aside Sonam Raghuvanshi's bail: non-service of the grounds of arrest and inadequate reasons within them are different things, and only the first voids an arrest. Plus: MHADA can hold a developer to its promise, and mining-lease stamp duty follows anticipated royalty.

Cover story Week of July 13–19

Three Months to Fix How India Releases Its Dying Prisoners

The Supreme Court gave every State three months to frame a compassionate-release policy for elderly and terminally ill prisoners — NALSA counted 5,393 of them. Plus: Article 227 can't touch an arbitral tribunal's jurisdiction ruling, and the RBI bars banks from reselling seized property to defaulters.