What is an item number in a cause list?

It is the serial number of a case in a court's list for one sitting day. It gives the order in which the court has listed its matters, and so roughly when a case will be called.

When is the cause list published?

Item numbers usually appear the evening before the hearing. Courts also revise their lists in the morning, so a number read the evening before can change.

Which courts does Nyayakosh read the item number for?

District courts, whose lists are read from eCourts, and the Delhi High Court, whose lists are read from the court's own website. For other High Courts the case links to the court's cause-list page.

What does 'Not on the list' mean?

The court has published its list for that date and the case is not on it. It is different from 'List not published yet', which means the court has not put up a list at all.

How to find your item number in the cause list without opening the PDF

Where the item number is published for district courts and High Courts, and how a tracked case shows it on its own row, with the time the list was read.

27 September 2026 · 5 min read

The item number is the serial number of your case (courts also call it the serial number or Sr. No.) in a court's cause list for the day. It tells you roughly when you need to be in the court room. Finding it usually means opening a portal page or a PDF for each case, the evening before the hearing and again in the morning. This guide covers the manual route, and how a tracked case in Nyayakosh shows its item number on its own row.

What the item number is for

A court publishes one list for each sitting day. Your case has one serial number in that list. A low number is usually called earlier than a high one, though courts do not always take the list in order.

Two things make the number less simple than it looks:

Lists are revised. A court can reissue its list in the morning, or add a supplementary list. The number you read the evening before can change.
Numbers restart per list. A High Court bench can have several lists on one day. Item 5 in one list is a different matter from item 5 in another.

Finding the item number by hand

District courts. On the eCourts services portal, open Cause List. Choose the state, the district, the court complex and the court. Enter the date and the CAPTCHA, choose Civil or Criminal, and look for your case in the list that opens. The page shows one court at a time.

High Courts. Each High Court publishes its lists on its own website, usually as PDF files. You open the file for the date and search it for your case number.

With hearings in three courts, that is three lookups in the evening. If a list is revised, you repeat them in the morning.

The item number on the case row

In Nyayakosh, a tracked case with a hearing today or tomorrow is looked up in the court's list for that date. You do not open the list.

District courts. The list is read from eCourts, for the court the case record names.
Delhi High Court. The list is read from the court's own website. A listed case links to the PDF it was read from, so you can see the line yourself.

Fig. 1 · The item number in My cases

Mon19Oct
Tomorrow
State v. Accused Q
SC 412/2024 · Rohini Courts
Room no. 304 · Rohini Courts
Sh. XXXXXXXX
Item No: 14
Join VC
Tue20Oct
In 2 days
Plaintiff S v. Defendant T
CS (COMM) 88/2025 · Saket Courts
Room no. 17 · Saket Courts
Sh. XXXXXXXX
Item No: 3
Fri23Oct
In 5 days
Appellant C v. State
CRL.A. 1180/2025 · High Court of Delhi
No date
Petitioner L v. Respondent M
Family Court, Dwarka
Waiting for eCourts

Sample cases. The first two are on a cause list, so each row carries its item number beside the court room and the judge.

The number is always shown with the time the list was read. If that time is early in the morning and the court has since revised its list, the Check for updates button on the case reads it again.

Four answers, kept apart

A case gets one of four answers: an item number, or one of three reasons there is none. The diary says which.

Fig. 2 · What a case can say about tomorrow's list

Item14
Item No: 14
The case is on the list the court published. The time the list was read is shown with the number.
List not published yet
The court hasn't put up its list. Item numbers usually appear the evening before.
Not on the list
This case isn't on the list the court published. Lists do get revised — check again on the day.
Couldn't check the list
We couldn't reach the court's cause list just now. This says nothing about whether your case is listed.

The four states, in the product's own words. 'List not published yet' and 'Not on the list' are different instructions: the first means wait, the second means check.

List not published yet. The court has not put up its list. This says nothing about your case. Item numbers usually appear the evening before.
Not on the list. The court published a list and your case is not on it. Check with the court, and check again on the day.
Couldn't check the list. We could not reach the court's list. This is our failure and it is worded that way.

Each of these states carries a link to check for yourself: the eCourts portal for a district court, and the court's own cause-list page for a High Court.

The morning, grouped by building

The Today view puts the day's hearings on one screen. Cases are grouped by court building, and the item number is the tile at the start of each row.

Fig. 3 · A hearing morning in the Today view

Rohini Courts · 2 matters · list read 7:10 am

Item14
State v. Accused Q
Room no. 304
Sh. XXXXXXXX
Listed for Prosecution evidence
Join VC
Item31
Complainant R v. Accused B
Room no. 304
Sh. XXXXXXXX
Listed for Arguments
Join VC

High Court of Delhi · 1 matter · list read 6:45 am

Item18
Petitioner K v. Respondent N
Court No. 12
Justice XXXXXXXX
Join VC

Saket Courts · 1 matter

Plaintiff S v. Defendant T
Room no. 17
Sh. XXXXXXXX
List not published yet

A sample morning. Two matters before one court at Rohini, one in the High Court, and one at Saket where the list is not up yet. Each building's heading shows when its list was read.

What it does not do

It reads lists for the cases you track. It is not a browser for a court's whole cause list.
High Courts other than Delhi. We do not read their cause lists yet. A case there says "Check the list on the court's website" and links to that court's page.
Hearings more than a day away. The list is looked up from the day before the hearing. Until then the row shows the date and no item number.

After the list is out

The item number is where your case stands in the list. The display board is where the court has reached. For the High Courts of Delhi, Bombay, Allahabad and Madhya Pradesh, the board is open without an account: see the display board. The guide to reading it is here.

To get your cases into the diary without typing them, see how to export My Cases from the eCourts app.

Questions

What is an item number in a cause list?: It is the serial number of a case in a court's list for one sitting day. It gives the order in which the court has listed its matters, and so roughly when a case will be called.
When is the cause list published?: Item numbers usually appear the evening before the hearing. Courts also revise their lists in the morning, so a number read the evening before can change.
Which courts does Nyayakosh read the item number for?: District courts, whose lists are read from eCourts, and the Delhi High Court, whose lists are read from the court's own website. For other High Courts the case links to the court's cause-list page.
What does 'Not on the list' mean?: The court has published its list for that date and the case is not on it. It is different from 'List not published yet', which means the court has not put up a list at all.

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