Plain-Words Glossary
The registry speaks its own language. Here is every term in one plain line — so you sound like you have been here before.
High Court of Karnataka — Principal Bench
- Advance Service
- Giving the Government's law office a copy of your case BEFORE filing, whenever the Government is a party. Proved by a seal on your file.
- Advocate Welfare Fund Stamp
- A special stamp pasted on the Vakalatnama (₹50 total at this court). The money goes to the advocates' welfare fund.
- Annexure
- A supporting document attached to your petition — marked Annexure-A, Annexure-B and so on.
- Board Branch
- The basement section that publishes daily cause lists, boards and bench rosters.
- Cause List
- The daily list showing which cases are heard in which court hall, before which judge.
- Caveat
- A notice you file saying: if anyone starts a case against my client, do not pass orders without hearing us first.
- CC (Certified Copy)
- An official, sealed copy of a court order, judgment or record, issued by the registry.
- CH-1 Counter
- The separate filing counter INSIDE the building for Chief Justice (Court Hall 1) matters. The outer counters refuse these.
- Co-op Society
- The advocates' co-operative store at the outer wall bend — gowns, bands, tabs and legal stationery.
- Compliance
- Fixing the registry's objections and getting the file cleared to move forward.
- e-Court Fee
- Court fee paid online. At this court you pay it AFTER filing, using your FR number — nothing is pasted in the file.
- FR Number
- Filing Registration Number — the token number your file gets at the counter. It is how you track the file until it becomes a real case number.
- HCGP
- High Court Government Pleader — the Government's lawyer for civil matters at the High Court.
- IA (Interlocutory Application)
- A request made inside a pending case — for a stay, an exemption, more time. Each one needs its own ₹20 stamp.
- Index Branch
- The basement section where case papers are bound, catalogued and accessioned.
- Objection
- A note from the registry listing what is wrong with your file. Fix it, hand it back in, and the file moves again.
- Order Sheet
- The running record of what happened in court on each date — directions, adjournments, interim orders.
- Process Fee (PF)
- The fee paid so the registry can send notices / summons to the other side.
- Registrar
- The senior registry officer. Matters with uncleared objections get listed before the Registrar for default.
- Scrutiny
- The registry's line-by-line check of your file after filing. Problems found here come back to you as objections.
- Service Seal
- The stamp (date, time, signature) the Government office puts on your main file to prove it received its copy.
- SPP
- State Public Prosecutor — the Government's lawyer for criminal matters. Serve them the advance copy in criminal cases.
- Vakalatnama
- The paper your client signs to appoint you as their advocate. Goes at the very end of the file with ₹50 in Welfare Fund stamps.