Search cases by citation or name

Search the legal case database by citation text or case name.

Returns an empty array (not 404) when no cases match.

Cost: 1 API credit.

Query parameter q

• q=Maneka Gandhi — case name full-text search (GIN index, fast)
• q=[2019] 11 SCR 706 — SCR citation match (btree index, instant)
• q=2023 INSC 922 — INSC neutral citation match

Filters (all optional)

Param	Type	Values	Description
court_code	string	SC, DEL, BOM, MAD, CAL, KER, GUJ, RAJ, MP, UP, HIM, UTT, JKL, TEL, AND, ORI, JHA, CHH, PH, ALL, PAT, GAU, KAR, SIK	Filter by court
year_start	integer	e.g. 1950	Earliest decision year (inclusive)
year_end	integer	e.g. 2024	Latest decision year (inclusive)
validity_status	string	GOOD_LAW, OVERRULED, DISTINGUISHED, QUESTIONED, SUPERSEDED, AFFIRMED, PARTIALLY_OVERRULED, UNKNOWN	Filter by validity status

For more details, see the API Reference.

GET /api/v1/citations/cases/search

Search cases by citation or name

cURL

curl --request GET \
  --url https://api.vaquill.ai/api/v1/citations/cases/search \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>'

200

{
  "data": {
    "results": [
      {
        "citation": "[1978] 2 S.C.R. 621",
        "caseName": "MANEKA GANDHI versus UNION OF INDIA",
        "court": "Supreme Court of India",
        "courtCode": "SC",
        "judges": [
          "M. HAMEEDULLAH BEG"
        ],
        "decisionDate": "1978-01-25",
        "year": 1978,
        "validityStatus": "UNKNOWN",
        "citedByCount": 75,
        "pdfUrl": "https://pub-0ca0278f132c481887c0474333ff6d8a.r2.dev/indian-courts-v1/supreme-court/english/1978/1978_2_621_776_EN.pdf",
        "hasFullText": true
      },
      {
        "citation": "[2017] 10 S.C.R. 569",
        "caseName": "JUSTICE K S PUTTASWAMY (RETD.), AND ANR. versus UNION OF INDIA AND ORS.",
        "court": "Supreme Court of India",
        "courtCode": "SC",
        "judges": [
          "J.S. KHEHAR"
        ],
        "decisionDate": "2017-08-24",
        "year": 2017,
        "validityStatus": "UNKNOWN",
        "citedByCount": 0,
        "pdfUrl": "https://pub-0ca0278f132c481887c0474333ff6d8a.r2.dev/indian-courts-v1/supreme-court/english/2017/2017_10_569_999_EN.pdf",
        "hasFullText": true
      }
    ]
  },
  "meta": {
    "processingTimeMs": 65.3,
    "creditsRemaining": 4.9,
    "creditsConsumed": 0.1,
    "total": 2,
    "limit": 10
  }
}

Authorizations

Authorization · string · header · required

API key issued from the Vaquill developer dashboard. Pass as Authorization: Bearer vq_key_...

Query Parameters

q · string · required

Search query — citation text or case name

Required string length: 2 - 300

limit · integer · default: 10

Max results (1-50)

Required range: 1 <= x <= 50

court_code · string | null

Filter by court code. Common values: SC (Supreme Court), DEL (Delhi HC), BOM (Bombay HC), MAD (Madras HC).

year_start · integer | null

Earliest decision year (inclusive), e.g. 1950.

Required range: 1800 <= x <= 2100

year_end · integer | null

Latest decision year (inclusive), e.g. 2024.

Required range: 1800 <= x <= 2100

validity_status · string | null

Filter by legal validity. One of: GOOD_LAW, OVERRULED, DISTINGUISHED, QUESTIONED, SUPERSEDED, AFFIRMED, PARTIALLY_OVERRULED, UNKNOWN.

countryCode · string | null

ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code (e.g. IN for India). Reserved for future multi-jurisdiction support. Currently the dataset covers India only, so requests for other country codes will return empty results naturally from the database.

Response

200

application/json

Search results

Top-level response for GET /citations/cases/search.

data · CitationSearchData · object · required

Data payload for the citation search endpoint.

Show child attributes

meta · CitationApiMeta · object · required

Metadata returned with every citation API response.

Show child attributes