A free, independent Pakistani case-law library
Pakistan Case Law makes primary-source Pakistani judgments findable by anyone — lawyers, students, journalists and litigants — with no paywall and no login. Every judgment has its own permanent page showing the citation, the court, the judges, the cases it cites, and the later cases that cite it (“Cited by N cases”).
Two ways in: look up an exact citation (about 72% of searches are citation look-ups), or run a keyword search that reads the full text of every judgment and ranks the most relevant — with landmark cases surfacing higher because so many other judgments rely on them.
The most-cited cases in the corpus
The precedents Pakistani courts return to most often, ranked by how many other judgments cite them.
- 1Nawab Syed RAUNAQ ALI ETC vs CHIEF SETTLEMENT COMMISSIONER AND OtherPLD 1973 Supreme Court 236700cited by
- 2TARIQ BASHIR and 5 others vs THE STATEPLD 1995 Supreme Court 34657cited by
- 3Messrs ELAHI COTTON MILLS LTD and others vs FEDERATION OF PAKISTAN throughSecretary Mk) Finance, Islamabad and 6 othersPLD 1997 Supreme Court 582548cited by
- 4THE STATE vs ZIA UR REHMAN And OtherPLD 1973 Supreme Court 49504cited by
- 5I.A. SHARWANI And Others vs GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN Through Secretary,Finance Division, Islamabad And Other _1991 SCMR 1041471cited by
- 6GHULAM SIKAN DAR AND ANOTHERC vs MAMARAZ KHAN AND OTHERSPLD 1985 Supreme Court 11451cited by
- 7THE FEDERATION OF PAKISTAN THROUGH THE SECRETARY, ESTABLISHMENT DIVISION, GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN RAWALPINDI vs SAEED AHMAD KHAN AND Other M. R. TOOSY, Ex PRINCIPAL, GOVERNMENT COLLEGE, SARGODHA AND OtherPLD 1974 Supreme Court 151411cited by
- 8MUHAMMAD HUSAIN MUNIR AND Other vs SIKANDAR AND Other.PLD 1974 Supreme Court 139392cited by
- 9AYUB MASIH vs THE STATEPLD 2002 Supreme Court 1048388cited by
- 10Mst. SAEEDA FATIMA vs G. NIZAMUDDIN JAMI and 3 othersPLD 1993 Karachi 473365cited by
Walk the whole corpus
No search box needed — browse every judgment by year, court, or law report.
Two ways to find a case
By citation
Paste a report citation as you'd write it — PLD 1995 Supreme Court 34,
2019 SCMR 984, or 2008 PCrLJ 858. The fastest route to a specific case.
By keyword
Describe the point of law in plain words — bail in murder cases,
khula dower, rent eviction. Full-text search reads every judgment and
ranks the most relevant.
Common questions
Is it really free?
Yes — completely free, with no account, no sign-up and no paywall.
Which courts and years are covered?
Reported judgments of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the High Courts, from 1970 to 2025 — 197,365 judgments in total.
Can I rely on these for court?
The site is for research and education. Always verify the text against the official law report (PLD, SCMR, CLC, YLR and so on) before relying on or citing a judgment.
Is this an official government website?
No. It is an independent, free service. Court judgments are public documents; their reproduction is permitted under the Copyright Ordinance 1962, section 57(q).
How do I find cases that cite another one?
Open any judgment — every case it cites is a clickable link, and it lists the later cases that cite it under “Cited by N cases”.