CourtWatch

Field guide

How to track a court case online by CNR number

Published 22 Jul 2026

Verified against the live portal — 22 Jul 2026
In short

Take the 16-character CNR (for example DLNT010004752026), and either enter it on the eCourts portal — retyping a captcha on every visit — or paste it into CourtWatch, where there is no captcha at all and the case keeps itself updated, with WhatsApp messages when the next date or status changes. A free CourtWatch account tracks two cases.

There are two honest ways to do this. One costs nothing but your time, every single time. The other you set up once.

1

Have the CNR ready

The CNR is the case's unique 16-character code, printed on court orders and the e-filing acknowledgment. If you do not have it, our guide on finding your CNR shows every place it appears.

2

The eCourts portal method

Open the eCourts portal (services.ecourts.gov.in), choose the CNR Number search, enter the sixteen characters, and solve the captcha. You will see the case's parties, stage, next hearing date, and order links.

This works, and it is free. Its limits are practical: the captcha has to be retyped on every visit, the page shows one case at a time, and nothing tells you when something changes — you find out the case moved because you thought to look.

3

The tracking method

On CourtWatch, paste the same CNR into the search bar. No captcha — the case simply opens, with the same court record: parties, stage, next date, hearing history, orders, and a Track button. Track it, and from then on:

  • the case is re-checked through the day, without you visiting anything;
  • a WhatsApp message arrives when the next date or the case's status changes;
  • a hearing reminder arrives the evening before and the morning of every listed date.

A free account tracks two cases. If you handle a full board, paid plans lift the limits — but for one or two matters of your own, free is genuinely enough.

Caution: whichever method you use, the online record follows what the court's registry has uploaded. If a very recent order has not been uploaded yet, no website — ours included — can show it before the registry does.

FAQ

Can I check a case by CNR without a captcha?

Yes — on CourtWatch. The eCourts portal asks for a captcha on every single search; searching by CNR on CourtWatch never asks you for one, and once you track the case even the searching stops — updates come to you, no captcha involved.

Does CNR tracking work for High Court and Supreme Court cases?

CourtWatch also tracks Delhi High Court, several other High Courts, and Supreme Court matters — those searches work by case number or diary number rather than CNR. Supreme Court search shows the court's own captcha, usually already filled in for you to confirm. Once a case is tracked, updates and reminders arrive the same way for every court, captcha-free.

Is the case data different from the court website?

No. The record comes from the same official court sources; CourtWatch adds the tracking, history and alerts on top of it.

Paste a CNR and see the whole case — parties, stage, next date, order history.

Track your first case free