How to Check Someone's Criminal Record in India: What Is Public

Say you are about to rent your flat to a stranger, or a family match looks promising, and you want to know whether the person has a criminal past. A quick search throws up websites promising a 'full criminal record' in minutes. The honest answer is that in India most police records are not open to the public, court records largely are, and both need careful reading. This guide explains what you can actually check, how to search court cases yourself, what a police clearance certificate is, why FIRs are hard to search by name, and how to read results without being unfair to anyone.

The short version

• There is no public national database of criminal records. Police crime data can be searched only by authorised police officers.
• Court cases are public. The government's eCourts services let you search case status by party name, court by court.
• A police clearance certificate is applied for by the person themselves, through Passport Seva or state police. You cannot get one for someone else.
• FIRs are often uploaded on police websites, but are usually found by police station and FIR number, not by a person's name across India.
• Namesakes are common. Match on father's name, city and other details before drawing any conclusion.
• A pending case is an allegation, and an acquittal means the court did not find the person guilty. Judge fairly.

What is public and what is not

The Ministry of Home Affairs' national Digital Police Portal (digitalpolice.gov.in) states that, to protect privacy and for national security reasons, crime and criminal data can be searched by authorised police officers only. So arrest records, police station registers and investigation files are not something the public can look up by name.

What is public is the court side. Once a matter reaches court, the case details, hearing dates and many orders are published through the eCourts system. That is why any genuine 'criminal record check' in India is really a search of court records, plus whatever has been reported in the news.

How to search court cases on eCourts

District and subordinate courts are covered by eCourts services (services.ecourts.gov.in), which is also available as the eCourts Services mobile app. High Courts have a separate portal (hcservices.ecourts.gov.in).

• Open Case Status and choose the Party Name option.
• Select the state, district and court complex. Each search covers one court complex.
• Enter the name, in full or in part (at least three letters), the registration year, and whether you want Pending or Disposed cases.
• Complete the captcha and search. Open any result to see the parties, the Act and sections, hearing dates and orders.

Know the limits. You have to repeat the search for each district and year, spellings vary, and 'party name' covers everyone in a case: petitioner, complainant, respondent, accused and others. A name on a criminal case may belong to the person who filed the complaint, not the accused. Always open the case and check the person's role.

Police clearance certificates: only the person can apply

A police clearance certificate (PCC) is issued through Passport Seva to Indian passport holders who need it for residence, employment, a long-term visa or emigration abroad. The person registers on the Passport Seva portal, applies, pays the fee and visits a Passport Seva Kendra with original documents. It is tied to their own passport, so you cannot apply on someone else's behalf.

Many state police departments also issue a character or clearance certificate to residents who apply for themselves, often online; check your state police website. If such a certificate matters to you, ask the person to obtain it and show you the original. For domestic staff and tenants, many city police departments run a separate verification process that the employer or landlord starts.

Why you cannot simply search FIRs by name

In Youth Bar Association of India v. Union of India (2016), the Supreme Court directed that FIRs be uploaded on police websites within 24 hours, extendable to 72 hours where connectivity is poor. Sensitive cases, such as sexual offences, offences under POCSO and terror offences, are excluded, and the decision not to upload is taken by an officer of the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police or above.

So many state police websites do show FIRs, but usually you need the district, police station, year and FIR number or date to find one. There is no public tool to search every FIR in India by a person's name, and some FIRs are never published at all.

Remember too that an FIR is only the start of an investigation. It records a complaint; it does not prove anything. Since 1 July 2024, FIRs are registered under section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which replaced the CrPC, and new offences are charged under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which replaced the IPC. Older records will show IPC sections and newer ones BNS sections.

The namesake problem

A name search on its own can easily point at the wrong person. Before treating any result as 'theirs', check:

• Father's or husband's name, which often appears in court case details.
• District and address: does the case come from a place the person has lived or worked?
• Age, where it is shown.
• Timeline: was the person even in that city when the case was filed?

If two of these do not match, treat the result as someone else's until proven otherwise.

Reading results fairly: pending, disposed and acquitted

• Pending means the case is still going on. Nothing has been decided, and the person is presumed innocent.
• Disposed means the case has ended, but not how. It may have ended in conviction, acquittal, settlement, withdrawal or dismissal. Read the final order or judgment before forming a view.
• Acquittal means the court did not find the person guilty. Treat it that way.
• Type of case: a cheque bounce or property dispute is very different from an assault or a fraud case.
• Age of the case: something from fifteen years ago, with nothing since, tells a different story from a recent case.
• Role: was the person the accused, the complainant or a witness?

Do not judge a person by an allegation alone

Court records include false complaints, counter-cases filed in family disputes and cases that ended in acquittal. If you find something, ask the person about it calmly and give them a chance to explain or show the final order. Do not share what you find with neighbours or relatives. If you are deciding something with legal consequences, or a dispute is involved, speak to a lawyer or the local police rather than acting on a search result.

What a fraudcheck.ai report checks (and what it doesn't)

Searching eCourts by hand, district by district and year by year, takes hours. A fraudcheck.ai report costs ₹99 and is ready in about 5 minutes. You need the person's full name, their father's name (or husband's name for married women) and the city they live in. No ID numbers, documents or OTP are needed, and the person is never contacted or told.

• Court cases across India from public court records, pending and disposed, matched on name, father's or husband's name and city.
• News mentions: published news stories that name the person.
• Public social media presence: public profiles found for the person.

Matching on three details removes most namesakes, but results come from public sources and can still need judgement. It is not police verification, a police clearance certificate, a credit check, an identity check or a guarantee of character, and it complements police verification where that is required. You can run a check or first see a sample report to know exactly what you will get.

Frequently asked questions

Can I check someone's criminal record online in India?

Not police records. The national Digital Police Portal says crime and criminal data can be searched only by authorised police officers. You can, however, search public court records through eCourts services, or use a background check that searches court cases across India by name, father's or husband's name and city.

Can I get a police clearance certificate for another person?

No. A police clearance certificate through Passport Seva is applied for by the passport holder themselves, for purposes such as residence, employment, a long-term visa or emigration abroad. State police character certificates are also applied for by the person. You can ask the person to obtain one and show it to you.

Are FIRs public in India?

Partly. In 2016 the Supreme Court directed police to upload FIRs on their websites within 24 hours, except sensitive cases such as sexual offences, POCSO and terror offences. But you usually need the police station and FIR number to find one; there is no public nationwide search by a person's name.

What does 'disposed' mean in an eCourts case status?

It means the case has ended in that court. It does not tell you the outcome, which could be conviction, acquittal, settlement, withdrawal or dismissal. Open the case and read the final order or judgment before drawing any conclusion.

How do I know a court case belongs to the same person and not a namesake?

Compare the father's or husband's name, the district and address in the case, the age if shown, and whether the timeline fits. If these do not match, assume it is someone else. When in doubt, ask the person directly and give them a chance to explain.

If you need a quick, fair first look before a big decision, run a check on fraudcheck.ai and read the results with the guidance above.