A new citation system for uniquely Indian legal material

Since it launched last week, more than 700 Indian law students and others across India have registered to receive a a working draft of Standard Indian Legal Citation, a new citation system specifically covering Indian legal sources and material. Rohit Pothukuchi, a graduate of the NALSAR University of Law, is its founding editor.

Speaking with us, Mr. Pothukuchi highlighted the fact that citation systems that are currently used in Indian law schools and by researchers, such as The Bluebook, are expensive and have not been made available in all law schools. This uniform citation standard, on the other hand, is free and, Mr. Pothukuchi said, will always be free. The Standard Indian Legal Citation will also reduce the need to search far for how to cite a lot of uniquely Indian legal sources — such as legislative material, Bills, the Constitution of India, reports by ministries, and Parliamentary debates — that are not covered by the commonly used citation standards. Mr. Pothukuchi is looking forward to a receiving inputs on the working draft from all parts of the legal community, including law schools and law students.