Nira is a free way to start searching Indian GST case law and get an answer, not just a list of judgments. Ask in plain words and you get the answer with the court's own words, how strongly each decision binds you in your State, and its later history where Nira has a record. No credit card is needed. The free plan allows up to 10 research messages a day in your first month and then 5 questions a month.
In this article
What are the free ways to search GST case law in India?
Nira answers a question with the court's own words and how each decision binds your State. For the other tools, this table gives only what their own public pages list for free access, read on 1 November 2026.
| Tool | Free | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Nira | ₹0, no credit card needed. Up to 10 research messages a day in the first month, then 5 questions a month. One full notice analysis, one "Appeal or not" reading, one department's reading. | Plus ₹199 a month (40 questions a month). Pro ₹1,999 a month (10 research messages, 5 notice analyses and 3 "Appeal or not" checks a day; one order draft a month). |
| Indian Kanoon | ₹0. Its Free features page lists access to its database of court orders, judgments and laws, with search. Its free plan lists 25 court copies a month and a few credits for its AI tools. | Premium and Pro plans, priced on its site. |
| CaseMine, Taxmann, SCC Online, Manupatra | Taxmann lists a 7-day free trial; SCC Online and Manupatra list free-trial sign-ups. | Subscription plans on their own sites. |
Nira: its pricing page. The others: each tool's own public pages, read on 1 November 2026. We repeat none of their prices. Plans change; check the site before you buy.
What one free answer gives you
Every answer has the same shape, so you can check it quickly:
- A verdict in one sentence. Where you stand, said plainly, for your State and your side (taxpayer or department).
- Which way the authority leans, and why. Decisions that help you and decisions that hurt you, side by side, binding ones first.
- The court's own words. The holding quoted from the judgment, with its paragraph number; a decision opens to the paragraph.
- How each decision binds you. A Supreme Court decision binds everyone; a High Court binds officers in its own territory; elsewhere it is persuasive.
- Later history. Whether a decision was appealed, stayed, reversed or overruled, shown beside the decision where Nira holds a dated record.
- What Nira cannot see. The answer's limits, once, at the end.
One question, two sides
"Can one show cause notice under section 74 cover several financial years? I am in Kerala."
Separate notices are needed for each year assessed under s.74.
Decided 8 April 2025One notice may cover several years; no statutory bar.
Decided 23 April 2026What Nira searches
Over 3 lakh documents: 302,905 on 31 October 2026. Most are CESTAT orders and High Court judgments; the Supreme Court and the law itself are smaller sets.
| Source | Documents | What you can ask about |
|---|---|---|
| High Courts | 144,018 | GST, VAT, customs and excise writs and appeals; each decision labelled with where it binds |
| CESTAT | 141,907 | Final orders on customs, central excise and service tax |
| Acts, rules, notifications and circulars | 7,110 | The department's own clarifications, with the Act and Rules. Notifications and circulars are held to late October 2026. |
| Supreme Court | 5,514 | Judgments reported in the Supreme Court Reports, tax and the law they rest on, and a first set of the Court's own orders from April 2026; binding everywhere in India |
| Advance rulings (AAR) | 3,053 | GST advance rulings, State by State |
| Appellate advance rulings (AAAR) | 534 | Appeals against advance rulings |
| GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) | 497 | The GST Appellate Tribunal's orders |
| Anti-profiteering (NAA) | 272 | National Anti-profiteering Authority orders |
| Total | 302,905 |
Documents Nira held on 31 October 2026. Nira's coverage page shows each source by year and by High Court, with a list of what is not in yet.
Three questions to try
Ask the way you would ask a senior colleague. Name your State, the section if you know it, and the year.
- "Can one show cause notice under section 74 cover several financial years? I am in Kerala." Then ask the same for Karnataka, and see the answer change with the law that binds you.
- "Can the appellate authority remand a case back to the adjudicating officer under section 107(11)?"
- "Is a section 73 notice valid if it is issued less than three months before the time limit for the order?" The time-limit calculator shows the working for every year.
Free and paid
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Free | ₹0 | No credit card needed. Up to 10 research messages a day in the first month, then 5 questions a month. One full notice analysis, one "Appeal or not" reading, one department's reading. |
| Nira Plus | ₹199 a month | 40 questions a month, and everything in Free. GST included; cancel any time. |
| Nira Pro | ₹1,999 a month | 10 research messages, 5 notice analyses, 3 "Appeal or not" checks and 10 re-runs with documents a day; the department's reading on every question; one order draft a month with 10 edits (an extra draft ₹799, 5 more edits ₹299). GST invoice for your firm. |
| Nira for firms | By entities; talk to the team | Everything in Pro, seats and shared workspaces, the workbench for every client's notices, orders and deadlines, and dedicated storage under your control. |
From Nira's pricing page, read on 1 November 2026. Prices and limits can change; the pricing page is the reference.
Workspaces keep a firm's notices, orders and deadlines in one place.
What Nira is, and is not
Nira is a research tool. It reads the law and the decisions and tells you where you stand, with the words to check it against. It does not know the facts it was not told, it does not file anything, and it is not a lawyer or a chartered accountant. Before you rely on a decision, open the paragraph and read it, and check its later history. Nira does not yet hold unreported Supreme Court orders, first-appeal and Board orders, or most CESTAT orders before 2017, and its High Court coverage is partial; where it holds little on your point, the answer says so.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I search GST case law free in India?
Nira is free to start, within the free limits, and no credit card is needed: it answers a GST question with the court's own words and how each decision binds your State. Other tools publish their own free access and trials on their own sites.
Is Nira really free?
Yes, within the free limits, and no credit card is needed. In your first month the free plan allows up to 10 research messages a day; after that it gives 5 questions a month. It also includes one full notice analysis, one "Appeal or not" reading and one department's reading. Nira Plus (₹199 a month) gives 40 questions a month; Nira Pro (₹1,999 a month) is for practitioners and includes order drafts. Ask your first question now, no account needed.
Which courts and tribunals does Nira cover?
The Supreme Court (5,514 documents), the High Courts (144,018), CESTAT (141,907), GSTAT (497), advance rulings (3,053) and appellate advance rulings (534), anti-profiteering orders (272), and the Acts, rules, notifications and circulars (7,110): 302,905 documents on 31 October 2026. Notifications and circulars are held to late October 2026.
Can I search CESTAT orders for free?
Yes, within the free limits. CESTAT orders, about 1.4 lakh of them, are part of what Nira searches in a free answer. Ask about a customs, central excise or service tax point in plain words, and the answer quotes the Tribunal's own words with the bench and date.
How does Nira show whether a case is still good law?
Where Nira holds a dated record of later history (appealed, stayed, reversed, overruled), the answer shows it beside the decision. A decision with no such flag has no recorded later history, which is not confirmation that the case is good law, so open the paragraph and check before you rely on it.
Is an answer from Nira legal advice?
No. It is research, with every claim linked to its source. How the law and the decisions apply to your facts is for you, or the professional you instruct, to decide.
Sources
- Nira Pricing page and home page, rendered in a browser on 1 November 2026 (the free plan, Nira Plus, Nira Pro, the no-extra-charge list); coverage page, updated 1 November 2026. Document counts: Nira, 31 October 2026; notifications and circulars held to late October 2026, including Circulars 257 to 266/2026-GST.
- Other tools Each tool's own public pricing, free-features and free-trial pages, read on 1 November 2026. We repeat none of their prices.
- Judgment Kerala HC, Tharayil Medicals v. Deputy Commissioner, WA 627/2025, 8 April 2025, paras 11-12; Karnataka HC, Commissioner of Central Tax v. Chimney Hills Education Society, WA 1751/2024, 23 April 2026, paras 57-59. Held in Nira.
Ask your GST question, free
Describe your situation in your own words. Nira answers with the court's own words and how each decision binds your State. Ask your first question now, no account needed.