Terms of Service

1. About Causelist

Causelist ("the Platform," "we," "us," or "our") is a community platform that enables advocates, litigants, and legal professionals to share real-time status updates from Delhi's courtrooms. Causelist is owned and operated by Rishabh Verma, an individual based in India.

By accessing or using Causelist, you ("User," "you") agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree, you must not use the Platform.

2. Intermediary Status

Causelist is an "intermediary" as defined under Section 2(1)(w) of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Causelist does not originate, edit, or endorse user-generated content. All updates posted on the Platform are the sole responsibility of the individual users who post them.

Causelist claims safe harbour protection under Section 79 of the IT Act, 2000. This protection is conditional on our compliance with due diligence obligations, which include these Terms and our content moderation practices.

3. Eligibility and Accounts

You must be at least 18 years old to use Causelist. By using the Platform, you represent that you meet this requirement.

Access to Causelist is currently invite-only. Accounts are created using your email address, which is verified by a one-time password (OTP) sent to your inbox. You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account. Do not share your OTP or account access with others.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate any account that violates these Terms, with or without prior notice.

4. Prohibited Content

In accordance with Rule 3(1)(b) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, users must not post, share, or transmit any content that:

• Threatens the sovereignty, integrity, security, or unity of India
• Is obscene, pornographic, or harmful to minors
• Is defamatory, libelous, or violates another person's privacy
• Infringes any patent, trademark, copyright, or other intellectual property right
• Contains malware, viruses, or any harmful code
• Is patently false or misleading and presented as fact
• Incites violence or hatred based on religion, race, caste, sex, nationality, or place of birth
• Harasses, bullies, or threatens any individual
• Impersonates any court official, judge, or judicial authority
• Contains fabricated case statuses or deliberate misinformation about court proceedings
• Is posted with knowledge that it is factually incorrect about a hearing's status

Causelist reserves the right to remove any content that violates the above, and to suspend or terminate the account of any user who repeatedly or egregiously violates these rules.

5. User-Generated Content and Licence

You retain ownership of any content you post on Causelist. By posting content, you grant Causelist a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to store, display, and distribute that content on the Platform for the purpose of operating the service.

You represent and warrant that: (a) you have the right to post the content; (b) the content does not violate any third-party rights; and (c) the content is, to the best of your knowledge, an accurate reflection of what you have personally observed.

6. Not Official Information

All content on Causelist is user-generated. Nothing on this Platform constitutes an official court record, official communication from any court or judge, or legal advice of any kind. See our Disclaimer for the full terms governing reliance on Platform content.

7. Causelist Brief (AI-Generated Information)

Causelist Brief, available at causelist.app/brief, is a free feature that uses an artificial intelligence model to generate general information about categories of legal work, based on a description you provide. Unlike the rest of the Platform, Brief outputs are not user-generated content, and the intermediary status described in Section 2 does not apply to them.

By using Brief, you acknowledge and agree that:

• Every brief is generated by AI and is not written, reviewed, or approved by an advocate
• A brief is general information only. It is not legal advice, not a legal opinion, and not a substitute for consulting a qualified advocate
• Using Brief creates no advocate-client relationship of any kind with Causelist or its operator
• AI-generated content can be incomplete, outdated, or wrong. You must have every point verified by a qualified advocate before relying on it
• Brief does not recommend, rank, or refer specific advocates, firms, or chambers, and nothing in a brief should be read as doing so
• You must not present a brief to any person, court, or authority as professional legal advice
• Brief is subject to fair-use limits (currently a daily cap per person). Automated, scripted, or bulk access is prohibited

The limitation of liability in Section 11 applies fully to Brief, including any loss arising from reliance on AI-generated content. See also the AI section of our Disclaimer and Privacy Policy.

8. Causelist Case (AI-Generated Case Digests)

Causelist Case, available at causelist.app/case, is a free feature that retrieves a case's published record from a third-party court-data provider and uses an artificial intelligence model to present it in plain words: a timeline, the most recent order, what appears to be operative, the stage, the next date, and what appears pending. If you ask for it, the tool also reads the published orders in full and lists what the court directed that no later order shows as concluded. As with Brief, Case outputs are not user-generated content, and the intermediary status described in Section 2 does not apply to them.

By using Case, you acknowledge and agree that:

• Every digest, and every line of the list of what is still open, is generated by AI and is not written, reviewed, or approved by an advocate
• Case reports what a published record shows. It is not the official record, not a certified copy, and not a substitute for the court's own file or for your case papers
• The published record can be incomplete, can lag behind the court, and can contain errors originating at source. A next date shown in Case may already have been changed by the court
• Nothing in Case asserts that any person has failed to comply with any direction. Where the tool shows an obligation as still open, that means only that no later order among those it read records the matter either way
• Using Case creates no advocate-client relationship of any kind with Causelist or its operator
• You must verify every point against the official record and your own file before relying on it, and you must not present output from Case to any person, court, or authority as professional legal advice or as an official record of a court
• Case is subject to fair-use limits (currently a daily cap per person and an overall daily cap). Automated, scripted, or bulk access is prohibited, as is using the tool to assemble a derivative database of court records

The limitation of liability in Section 11 applies fully to Case, including any loss arising from reliance on AI-generated content or on a record that was out of date. See also the AI sections of our Disclaimer and Privacy Policy.

9. Causelist Board (Published Cause Lists)

Causelist Board, available at causelist.app/board, is a free feature that reads the cause lists published by the Delhi district courts and shows, for a date you choose, the matters listed against an advocate name you enter (the courtroom, the item number, the case number and the purpose) together with a warning where two of those matters are listed to be called in different courtrooms at around the same point on the board. Board reproduces public court documents and applies no artificial intelligence to them.

By using Board, you acknowledge and agree that:

• Board shows what a published cause list says. It is not the official cause list, and the list displayed at the court governs
• An item number is a position on the board, not a time. Board does not predict, and must not be read as predicting, when any matter will be reached
• Cause lists are revised, supplementary lists are issued, matters are passed over, and courtrooms are reassigned. A list read the night before may not be the list that is called
• A clash warning is a comparison of published item numbers across courtrooms. It is a prompt to check, not a finding that you cannot attend, and the absence of a warning is not an assurance that no clash exists
• Coverage is limited to the Delhi district courts. The Delhi High Court does not publish its cause list through this source, so a matter listed there will not appear
• Advocate names are reproduced as printed by the court. Names are commonly misspelt, abbreviated, or shared between different advocates, so a search may return another person’s matters or omit your own
• Board must not be used to build a directory of advocates, to contact advocates or litigants for solicitation, or to assemble a derivative database of court listings. Automated, scripted, or bulk access is prohibited
• Using Board creates no advocate-client relationship of any kind with Causelist or its operator

The limitation of liability in Section 11 applies fully to Board, including any loss arising from a missed hearing. See also our Disclaimer and Privacy Policy.

10. Notice and Takedown

If you believe that content on Causelist is unlawful, infringes your rights, or violates these Terms, please submit a complaint to our Grievance Officer (details in Section 12). We will acknowledge your complaint within 24 hours and endeavour to resolve it within 15 days.

Upon receiving a valid court order or government directive, Causelist will remove the specified content within the timeframe stipulated in the order. Users whose content is removed will be notified where legally permissible, and will have the opportunity to appeal to the Grievance Officer.

11. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Causelist and its operator shall not be liable for:

• Any loss or damage arising from reliance on user-generated content posted on the Platform, or on AI-generated content produced by Causelist Brief
• Missed hearings, adverse legal outcomes, or decisions made based on information obtained from the Platform
• Any interruption, suspension, or termination of the service
• Any unauthorised access to or alteration of your data
• Any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages

The Platform is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, express or implied. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of any content on the Platform.

12. Grievance Officer

In accordance with Rule 3(2) of the IT Rules, 2021, Causelist has designated the following Grievance Officer:

The Grievance Officer will acknowledge complaints within 24 hours of receipt and resolve them within 15 days, except where prohibited by law or where resolution requires additional time due to complexity. For complaints involving content depicting women in a sexual or harmful manner, action will be taken within 24 hours.

13. Modifications to the Service and Terms

We reserve the right to modify or discontinue the Platform, or any part of it, at any time without notice. We also reserve the right to update these Terms. Material changes will be communicated by updating the date at the top of this page. Continued use of the Platform after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms.

14. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of India. Any disputes arising from or in connection with these Terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in New Delhi, India.

Before initiating formal legal proceedings, you agree to first contact us at feedback@causelist.app and attempt to resolve the dispute informally.

15. Contact

For any questions about these Terms, contact Rishabh Verma at feedback@causelist.app.