Four checks. Four different records. Know which one you need.
These are four different records. A court record check reads public cases in courts and tribunals. An FIR search looks for a police complaint, which may never become a case. Police verification is a local police enquiry. A police clearance certificate (PCC) is a certificate the police issue. None proves guilt, and none replaces the others.
A court record check tells you what India’s courts have recorded against a name. Only the police can verify a person or issue a clearance certificate. LegalCheck runs the court layer across 32 crore+ court and tribunal records, and most reports are ready in one to three minutes.
No Aadhaar or PAN upload. FIRs and police records are not part of a LegalCheck report.
Last updated: 25 September 2026
Key takeaways
- Four checks, four records. Passing one tells you nothing about the others.
- “No FIR found” is not “no case”. Cheque-bounce complaints and most civil disputes reach court without any FIR.
- Only the police can verify or certify. A database vendor, including eCourtsIndia, can run a court check. It cannot issue police verification or a PCC.
- Aadhaar confirms identity, not history. Aadhaar authentication checks identity details. It does not return court or police records.
- Order matters. Court check first, police route second, a lawyer for anything material.
- An FIR, a pending case or a disposed case is not a conviction. Read the order before you judge anyone.
What is the difference between a court record check, an FIR search, police verification and a PCC?
Each one reads a different record held by a different authority. A court check reads court and tribunal files, an FIR search reads police complaints, police verification is a local police enquiry into a person, and a PCC is a certificate issued through the passport system or the state police.
Landlords are told to “get police verification done”. HR teams are sold a “criminal check”. Families hear that Aadhaar reveals everything. Each phrase points to a different record. The table puts all five side by side, including the Aadhaar myth.
| Check | What it reads | Who holds or issues it | What you submit | What you get | Typical wait | What it cannot see |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Court record check | Public case records of the Supreme Court, High Courts, district and taluka courts, and tribunals | Courts. eCourts portals and private indexes such as eCourtsIndia make records searchable | A name plus identifiers: parent or spouse name, city, age | Matching cases, or a report separating likely matches from namesakes | Minutes (most LegalCheck reports: one to three minutes) | FIRs still under investigation, police records, anything that never reached a court |
| FIR search | First Information Reports registered at police stations | State police. Some FIRs are published on police portals; eCourtsIndia Crime Reports holds published FIR PDFs from 13 states and UTs | State, police district, station, FIR number and year | The FIR document itself | Minutes, if you know the station and number | Complaint cases and civil suits with no FIR, unpublished FIRs, what a court later decided |
| Police verification | An enquiry by the police station with jurisdiction, as per state practice | The local police, through state police citizen-service portals and stations | Personal details, ID and address proof, state forms | A registration acknowledgement or verification report, as per state practice | Varies by state and police station | Civil, recovery, consumer and tribunal cases |
| Police clearance certificate (PCC) | Police verification tied to your passport and address | Passport Seva and Indian Missions abroad for Indian passport holders; some state police issue certificates for domestic use | Passport, address proof if changed, proof of purpose | A certificate for a stated purpose | Varies by passport office and by whether fresh police verification is needed | Civil, commercial and tribunal litigation |
| “Aadhaar check” | UIDAI’s central identity repository | UIDAI, through authorised requesting entities | Aadhaar number with OTP, demographic or biometric details, with consent | A match on identity details, or e-KYC data where authorised | Seconds | All four rows above. No court or police history |
Cost differs too. Searching the government eCourts portals and the free eCourtsIndia litigant search costs nothing. A LegalCheck report costs ₹99, or ₹33 with a subscription, as of 25 September 2026. An FIR PDF on Crime Reports costs ₹1. Police verification and PCC fees are set officially; check the portal before you apply.
What does a court record check find?
It finds cases that have reached a court or tribunal where the person appears as a party. That covers civil, criminal, matrimonial, cheque-bounce, recovery, consumer and insolvency matters. It cannot find anything that never reached a court.
On eCourtsIndia that means the Supreme Court, all 25 High Courts, district and taluka courts in all 36 states and union territories, and 18 tribunal and commission families, including NCLT, DRT, ITAT and the consumer commissions. That is 32 crore+ records, with 20 lakh+ refreshed daily.
The hard part is deciding which results belong to your person, because Indian names repeat on a huge scale. Our court record check guide explains a proper check end to end, and same name, wrong person shows what happens when a check skips identity.
One caution from the official side. The government eCourts portal says its information “is not meant for legal evidence” and asks users to cross-check with the court record (eCourts disclaimer). Any online court check, ours included, is a lead to read, not a certificate.
What is an FIR search, and why is “no FIR” not “no case”?
An FIR search looks for a First Information Report, the police record of a complaint about a cognizable offence. No FIR does not mean no case, because many cases reach court without one.
Under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, in force since 1 July 2024, an FIR is recorded under Section 173 BNSS, the old Section 154 CrPC. To find one you usually need the police station, number and year, not just a name.
Why “no FIR” is not “no case”
- Cheque-bounce cases start as complaints in court. A Section 138 Negotiable Instruments Act matter is filed by the payee before a magistrate, not registered as an FIR. See our cheque-bounce data post.
- Most civil disputes never involve the police. Property, recovery, divorce, maintenance, consumer and insolvency cases have no FIR.
- Many FIRs are not online. Sensitive offences are often withheld from public portals.
- The FIR may be elsewhere, in a district or state you never searched.
Why “no court case” is not “no FIR” either
Between the FIR and the chargesheet, the matter is with the police and there is usually no trial case in court. That window can last months. Often the first court footprint is a bail or anticipatory bail application. Our guide to checking FIR status online explains how an FIR becomes a court case.
Where eCourtsIndia fits
eCourtsIndia runs a separate FIR layer, Crime Reports, which is not part of LegalCheck. As of 25 September 2026 it held 14 lakh+ published FIR PDFs from 13 states and union territories. You browse by state, district and station, then find an FIR by number and year; the PDF costs ₹1 after sign-in. It is a collection of published FIRs, not a national register, and it is organised by police station, not by person.
What is police verification, and why can no database vendor issue it?
Police verification is an enquiry the police with jurisdiction carry out on a person, usually a tenant, a domestic worker or an employee. Only the police can do it, so no private database, including ours, can issue a police verification.
It runs through the police station for the address concerned, and many states take requests online through their police citizen-service portals. Delhi Police, for example, lists Domestic Help/Tenant Registration, a Character Verification Report and a Police Clearance Certificate among its citizen services.
What happens next depends on the state: the forms, whether an officer visits and what you receive. We found no single national timeline on the official pages we read, so check your state portal.
What a vendor can and cannot do
A private verification firm can help you file the police form, follow it up and run its own checks. It cannot sign a police verification. If a report calls itself “police verification” but no police officer issued it, ask what was read: perhaps a court-record search, an agent’s visit to a station, or both. Useful, but not the police’s own word. The same applies to us: LegalCheck is the court layer, and its report says so.
Is tenant police verification compulsory?
Whether it is compulsory depends on the rules and police orders in force where the property is, so check your city police website or ask at the local station. Registration does not tell a landlord about eviction disputes, cheque-bounce cases or recovery suits. A court check does.
What is a police clearance certificate, and when do you need one?
A PCC is issued to Indian passport holders who have applied for residential status, employment, a long-term visa or immigration abroad. The Ministry of External Affairs says a PCC cannot be issued for a tourist visa (MEA PCC page).
- In India: apply online on Passport Seva and attend your appointment at a Passport Seva Kendra within your passport office’s jurisdiction, as the Passport Seva form instructions describe.
- Abroad: apply to the Indian Mission. MEA says the Mission forwards the application to the Passport Issuing Authority in India and issues the PCC once it receives the status report.
- Documents: your passport, proof of present address if it has changed, and proof of purpose such as an employment contract or visa papers. MEA lists extra documents for workers going to the 17 Emigration Check Required countries.
Timing depends on your file. Passport Seva’s PCC form instructions describe two paths. If the police verification on your existing passport was clear and there is no later adverse entry, the PCC can be issued the same day at the Kendra. If police verification was never done, or your address has changed since the passport was issued, the PCC waits for fresh police verification. Otherwise timelines and fees vary by passport office; check Passport Seva before you book.
Note that the PCC form asks whether any criminal proceedings are pending against you before a court in India, and if so, you attach the documents. That is a court question. A court check on yourself before you apply is a sensible first step, especially if you share a common name.
What about a PCC for a job in India?
Some employers in India want a police character certificate, not a passport PCC. State police issue those; Delhi Police runs a PCC and Character Verification Report service. Ask the employer which one they need.
Can you check someone’s criminal record using Aadhaar?
No. Aadhaar authentication confirms identity. It does not return court or police history.
UIDAI describes authentication as submitting an Aadhaar number with demographic or biometric details to its central repository, which then verifies whether those details are correct. Requesting entities must use the identity information only for that authentication, and UIDAI adds that an Aadhaar number or its authentication does not by itself prove citizenship or domicile (UIDAI, About Authentication).
So an “Aadhaar check” answers one question: is this person who they say they are? That is a useful first step. But pages that promise criminal history “from Aadhaar” are mixing up identity with record. Authentication confirms a match on identity details, and e-KYC returns identity details. Neither carries a court case, an FIR or a police report.
LegalCheck does not ask for Aadhaar or PAN at all. It works from a name, a parent or spouse name, a city and an age, and leaves identity documents to your KYC process.
Which check should you run?
Start with a court record check in almost every situation, because it is fast and covers the widest range of disputes. Add police verification or a PCC where the role, the law or a foreign authority asks for it.
Hiring office staff
Run a court check on the shortlisted candidate, with their consent, alongside education and past-employment checks. Add police verification only if the role, your sector’s rules or your own policy require it. Judge findings by relevance. Our background check guide covers the full hiring sequence.
Hiring a driver, nanny or caregiver
These roles involve your home, children or elderly parents, so do both. Court check first, before any trial day. Then ask for police verification or a character certificate through the state police, because a recent FIR that has not reached court will not show in court records. Take references too.
Renting to a tenant
Run a court check on every adult tenant for eviction disputes, cheque-bounce complaints and recovery suits. Then complete tenant registration with the local police where your city requires or offers it.
Tenant checking the owner
Before paying a large deposit, run a court check on every owner and on anyone taking the money. Look for partition suits and earlier sale disputes. There is no police route here; for big sums, have a lawyer read the title papers.
Loan or guarantor
Run a court check that includes tribunals, because a borrower’s telling signal often sits in a DRT or NCLT. Read the role: a person who filed recovery suits is not the same as a person against whom lenders filed. Pair it with a credit report. Our CIBIL for litigation post explains why the two belong together.
Vendor or business partner
Check the company under its legal name and check its directors separately. Police verification does not apply. Our guide to finding all cases against a company shows the manual route.
Before a marriage
A court check can surface an earlier marriage, a maintenance claim or a financial dispute that never came up in conversation. Handle it with care, and openly. The official police services we read are built around tenants, domestic help, employment and travel abroad, not matchmaking. If a matrimonial case turns up, read what 498A court data actually shows before judging a single row.
The recommended order
- Court check first. Minutes, every state in one pass, and it tells you what to ask next.
- Police route second, where it applies. This takes longer, and the time varies by state and passport office.
- A lawyer for anything material. If a finding could change a hire, a lease, a loan or a marriage, have a lawyer read the case and the orders before you act.
Is a pending case, an FIR or a disposed case a conviction?
No. An FIR is an allegation recorded by the police, a pending case is undecided, and “disposed” is a status that can mean acquittal, conviction, settlement, withdrawal or dismissal. Only the final order tells you which.
A person is presumed innocent unless convicted. Allegations and outcomes often diverge, and our 498A court data post shows how far apart they can sit. Read the case status dictionary before you treat any status label as a verdict.
The law changed mid-stream, too. Offences committed from 1 July 2024 are charged under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, so the same offence can appear under two numbers. Cruelty by a husband or his relatives, Section 498A IPC, now sits in Section 85 BNS. Older cases keep IPC sections, so check both numbers. The IPC to BNS section mapping lists them side by side.
What this does not mean
- A clear court check does not mean no FIR exists.
- A police verification does not mean no case exists.
- A PCC is not a general character reference. It is issued for a stated purpose.
- An Aadhaar match does not mean a clean record. It means the identity details matched.
- A name in a case is not guilt, and it may not even be your person. Namesakes are common.
- An UNRESOLVED LegalCheck result, which carries a score of 0, is not clear. It means records exist under that name that could not be attributed to your subject. Route it to a human.
- None of this is legal advice.
What does LegalCheck cover today?
LegalCheck covers the court layer: public court and tribunal records across India. FIRs, police records, PCC status and Aadhaar verification are not in the report.
- Courts covered: the Supreme Court, all 25 High Courts, district and taluka courts in all 36 states and union territories, and 18 tribunal and commission families, including NCLT, NCLAT, ITAT, CESTAT, DRT, DRAT, NGT, AFT, SAT, TDSAT, APTEL, CAT, CCI, GSTAT, RCT and the consumer commissions.
- What you get: findings sorted into Confirmed, Probable, Possible and Excluded, each linked to the case, plus a coverage statement naming what was searched and what was not.
- What is not in the report: FIR registers, police verification, PCC status and identity documents. Watchlist slots (sanctions, PEP, adverse media and others) return “not_searched”, never clear.
- Speed and price: most first reports in one to three minutes. ₹99 pay as you go or ₹33 with a subscription, charged when a new job is accepted, and re-reading a report is free. New accounts get ₹200 in credit without a card (as of 25 September 2026).
The LegalCheck launch post explains the identity-first method, and the LegalCheck API guide covers bulk use.
Run the court layer first. It takes minutes.
One national court and tribunal check, with namesakes separated and every finding linked to the case. ₹99, or ₹33 with a subscription. New accounts get ₹200 in credit.
Start with yourself. Your report stays in your account to read again.
Need police verification or a PCC? Those come only from the police. Apply for a PCC on Passport Seva (or through the Indian Mission if you live abroad), and use your state police citizen portal, such as Delhi Police citizen services, for tenant, domestic help or character verification.
Sources and method
- Ministry of External Affairs, Police Clearance Certificate (PCC): eligibility, purposes, documents, Mission route. Read 25 September 2026.
- Passport Seva, Apply for Police Clearance Certificate and PCC application form instructions: where to apply, issue paths, pending-proceedings question. Read 25 September 2026. We do not quote that document’s fee, which it says would be restructured.
- Delhi Police, citizen services: tenant, domestic help, character verification and PCC services listed. Read 25 September 2026.
- UIDAI, About Authentication: what authentication does. Read 25 September 2026.
- eCourts Services, Disclaimer: online case information “is not meant for legal evidence”. Read 25 September 2026.
- eCourtsIndia Crime Reports: 14,36,488 FIR PDFs from 13 states and union territories, as measured on the page at 1:57 pm IST, 25 September 2026.
- eCourtsIndia statute mapping (IndiaCode by eCourtsIndia): IPC 498A to BNS 85, a text-similarity mapping, not an official gazette equivalence. Read 25 September 2026.
- LegalCheck coverage, report bands, watchlist behaviour and speed: the launch post and API guide. Price and credits: ecourtsindia.com/api/pricing. Read 25 September 2026.
- Method: police, passport and Aadhaar facts come from official pages only. We submitted no applications. Where no official fee or timeline was stated, we say it varies.
Frequently asked questions
Is police verification mandatory for tenants?
Whether it is compulsory depends on the rules and police orders in force where the property is, so the answer differs from place to place. Check your city police website or ask at the local station. Registration and a court check answer different questions, so doing both is sensible. Delhi Police, for example, offers tenant registration through its citizen services.
Is a court check enough for hiring a driver or nanny?
No. Run it first, because it takes minutes and can surface cases in any state. Then add police verification or a character certificate from the state police, because a recent FIR that has not reached court will not appear in court records. Take references too. Our background check guide covers the household-hire sequence.
What is the difference between a PCC and a court record check?
A PCC is a certificate issued through Passport Seva or the police for a stated purpose, usually residence, work or a long-term visa abroad. A court record check reads public court and tribunal records and returns the cases themselves, including civil and commercial matters a PCC does not address. The PCC form asks about pending criminal proceedings, so a court check on yourself is a sensible first step.
Can I check someone’s criminal record online?
You can check the court side online. Government eCourts portals and the free eCourtsIndia litigant search show cases by party name, and LegalCheck separates likely matches from namesakes. Some police forces publish FIRs online. Police verification and a PCC are not database lookups, though. They come from the police, through their own application process.
Can I check a criminal record with Aadhaar?
No. Aadhaar authentication checks whether identity details match what UIDAI holds. It does not return court cases, FIRs or police history. Use Aadhaar to confirm who someone is, then run the record checks on the verified name and details. UIDAI explains how authentication works on its About Authentication page.
Does a court record check show FIRs?
No. A court check shows cases that reached a court. An FIR still under investigation will not appear, though a related bail application often will. LegalCheck does not include FIRs. For published FIR PDFs, eCourtsIndia runs a separate collection, Crime Reports, covering 13 states and union territories as of 25 September 2026.
How long does police verification take?
It varies by state, police station and the type of verification, and we found no single national timeline on the official pages we read. For a PCC, Passport Seva’s instructions allow same-day issue where your passport’s earlier police verification was clear; otherwise it waits for fresh verification. See the MEA PCC page.
Which is better for tenants?
Neither replaces the other. Police registration involves the local police and their records. A court check shows eviction disputes, cheque-bounce complaints and recovery suits that registration will not report. For most landlords the sensible order is court check first, then police registration. Tenants should check the owner too, as our court record check guide explains.
Important: This article is general information, not legal advice. Police and PCC rules, fees and timelines can change; check the official page before you apply. LegalCheck is a court-record matching report based on public records and probabilistic identity matching. It is not an FIR search, police verification, police clearance certificate or identity verification. A match is not proof of wrongdoing. Verify identity, read the case and give the person a chance to explain before acting. Use reports only for a lawful purpose and keep them confidential.
Know which record you are reading. Check the court layer first, then take the police route where it applies.