Court format
The Delhi High Court's format for pleadings and filings: paper, font, spacing, margins
Since 1 April 2021 every pleading filed in the Delhi High Court, and in the district courts under it, has had one prescribed look. This page quotes the direction, says what it means in practice, and notes what it does not settle.
The direction, in its own words
"A4 size paper (29.7 cm X 21 cm) ... with font – Times New Roman, font size 14, in 1.5 line spacing (for quotations and indents – font size 12 in single line spacing), with margin of 4 cm on left & right and 2 cm on top & bottom."Practice Directions No. 74/Rules/DHC dated 16 March 2021, High Court of Delhi, in force from 1 April 2021 (source below).
The direction applies to pleadings, petitions, applications, affidavits, written submissions and the documents filed with them. It was issued by the High Court for itself and for the district courts subordinate to it, so a filing in Tis Hazari, Saket, Patiala House, Rohini, Karkardooma, Dwarka or Rouse Avenue follows the same page.
What it means on the page
| Element | Requirement | In practice |
|---|---|---|
| Paper | A4, 29.7 cm by 21 cm | Not legal or foolscap. Set the page size before anything else; a document reflowed from legal to A4 changes its page count. |
| Face | Times New Roman | The whole document, including headings, the cause title and the verification. |
| Size | 14 point | Body text, headings, the index, the List of Dates, the synopsis. |
| Line spacing | 1.5 | Set as a paragraph rule for the document, so a pasted passage does not arrive single-spaced. |
| Quotations and indents | 12 point, single spacing | Extracts from judgments, sections of an act, correspondence set out verbatim. |
| Margins | 4 cm left and right; 2 cm top and bottom | Leaves 13 cm of text width. A table wider than that is cut off when printed. |
What it does not settle
- Page numbers. The direction prescribes the page; the position of the page number is convention (a centred number at the foot is the usual practice).
- Line numbering, headers and footers. Not prescribed.
- E-filed copies. Whether a second practice-directions document governs the margins of copies uploaded through e-filing is an open question that Pundora has recorded and not resolved; this page will be updated when the document has been read in full.
- Other High Courts. Each High Court has its own rules; this page is about Delhi only.
How Pundora's export follows it
A List of Dates, a draft or a research note exported from Pundora as a Word file is set to exactly this page: A4, Times New Roman 14 in 1.5 spacing as the document-wide default, quotations and indents at 12 in single spacing, margins of 4 cm and 2 cm, a centred page number at the foot. The file is named after the matter as the advocate wrote it, never renamed. The rules live in one place in the code, with the direction quoted above it, so a change in the direction is a one-line change in Pundora.
A note on the fictional sample. The worked List of Dates on the section 138 timeline page is built from Pundora's sample matter, Rakesh Sharma v. Mehta Trading Co., which is invented for demonstration and corresponds to no real parties or proceeding.
Questions advocates ask
Does the Delhi High Court format apply to district courts?
Yes. The Practice Directions were issued for the High Court and the courts subordinate to it, so the Delhi district courts follow the same page: A4, Times New Roman 14, 1.5 spacing, the stated margins.
What font size for quotations in a Delhi High Court petition?
12 point in single line spacing, for quotations and indented passages. Everything else is 14 point in 1.5 spacing.
What are the margins for a Delhi High Court filing?
4 cm on the left and right, 2 cm at the top and bottom, on A4 paper. That leaves 13 cm of text width.
Since when has this format applied?
From 1 April 2021, under Practice Directions No. 74/Rules/DHC dated 16 March 2021.
Sources
- High Court of Delhi, Practice Directions No. 74/Rules/DHC dated 16.03.2021 (PDF on the court's site) (read 20 September 2026)