ecourts-js

The first open source Node.js library for Indian eCourts case data. Search by CNR number, party name or advocate name — directly from ecourts.gov.in.

Install

npm install ecourts-js

Quick Start

const ecourts = require('ecourts-js');

// 1. Create a session (do this once, reuse it)
const session = await ecourts.createSession();

// 2. Get case by CNR number
const caseData = await ecourts.getCaseByCNR(session, 'MHAU010012342023');
console.log(caseData.next_hearing_date); // → '15-04-2026'
console.log(caseData.case_status);       // → 'Pending'

// 3. Get all states
const states = await ecourts.getStates(session);

// 4. Get districts for a state
const districts = await ecourts.getDistricts(session, '24'); // Maharashtra

// 5. Search by party name
const cases = await ecourts.searchByParty(session, {
    stateCode:    '24',
    districtCode: '1',
    name:         'Gaurav Kalal',
});

// 6. Search by advocate name
const advCases = await ecourts.searchByAdvocate(session, {
    stateCode:    '24',
    districtCode: '1',
    name:         'Sharma',
});

API Reference

ecourts.createSession()

Creates a new HTTP session with eCourts portal. Call once and reuse.

const session = await ecourts.createSession();

ecourts.getCaseByCNR(session, cnrNumber)

Get full case details by 16-character CNR number.

const detail = await ecourts.getCaseByCNR(session, 'MHAU010012342023');

Returns:

{
    cnr_number:          'MHAU010012342023',
    case_title:          'ABC vs XYZ',
    case_type:           'Civil Suit',
    filing_date:         '01-01-2023',
    case_status:         'Pending',
    case_stage:          'Arguments',
    court_name:          'Civil Judge Senior Division',
    district_name:       'Aurangabad',
    petitioner:          'ABC',
    respondent:          'XYZ',
    petitioner_advocate: 'Adv. Sharma',
    respondent_advocate: 'Adv. Mehta',
    next_hearing_date:   '15-04-2026',
    next_hearing_purpose:'Arguments',
    case_history: [
        { hearing_date: '01-03-2026', order_details: '...', purpose: '...' }
    ]
}

ecourts.getStates(session)

Returns all Indian states with codes.

const states = await ecourts.getStates(session);
// [{ state_code: '1', state_name: 'Andhra Pradesh' }, ...]

ecourts.getDistricts(session, stateCode)

Returns districts for a state.

const districts = await ecourts.getDistricts(session, '24');
// [{ district_code: '1', district_name: 'Ahmednagar' }, ...]

ecourts.searchByParty(session, options)

Search cases by petitioner or respondent name.

const cases = await ecourts.searchByParty(session, {
    stateCode:    '24',   // required
    districtCode: '1',    // required
    name:         'Sharma', // required, min 3 chars
    caseType:     '',       // optional
});

ecourts.searchByAdvocate(session, options)

Search cases by advocate name.

const cases = await ecourts.searchByAdvocate(session, {
    stateCode:    '24',
    districtCode: '1',
    name:         'Mehta',
});

ecourts.refreshSession(session)

Refresh session if it expires.

await ecourts.refreshSession(session);

How it works

ecourts-js
    ↓
Creates HTTP session with eCourts portal
    ↓
Fetches CAPTCHA image
    ↓
Solves CAPTCHA using Tesseract OCR (~75% accuracy)
    ↓
Submits search form with solved CAPTCHA
    ↓
Retries up to 10 times if CAPTCHA fails
    ↓
Parses HTML response into clean JSON
    ↓
Returns structured data

File Structure

ecourts-js/
├── src/
│   ├── index.js       ← main export
│   ├── session.js     ← session + cookie management
│   ├── captcha.js     ← Tesseract OCR solver
│   ├── parser.js      ← HTML → JSON parser
│   ├── cnr.js         ← CNR search
│   ├── party.js       ← party name search
│   ├── advocate.js    ← advocate search
│   └── states.js      ← states + districts
├── examples/
│   └── basic.js       ← usage examples
├── package.json
├── README.md
└── LICENSE

Important Notes

• This library scrapes publicly available data from ecourts.gov.in
• Use responsibly — add delays between bulk requests
• CAPTCHA solving accuracy is ~75% — the library retries automatically
• For production use with high volume, consider applying for the official NIC eCourts API at developer.ecourts.gov.in
• Sessions expire — call refreshSession() if you encounter repeated errors

Used by

• vaad.in — Free Indian court case tracker

Contributing

PRs welcome. Key areas for improvement:

• [ ] Better CAPTCHA solver accuracy
• [ ] High Court support
• [ ] Consumer Forum support
• [ ] TypeScript definitions
• [ ] Retry logic improvements
• [ ] Session pooling for high volume

Disclaimer

ecourts-js is an independent open source project and is not affiliated with the eCommittee of the Supreme Court of India, NIC, or any government body. All data is fetched from the publicly accessible ecourts.gov.in portal.

License

MIT © 2026 gorupa / Gaurav Kalal