diff --git a/courts/case_status.py b/courts/case_status.py
index 9d012749..ef989db4 100644
--- a/courts/case_status.py
+++ b/courts/case_status.py
@@ -56,6 +56,25 @@
 REVERSED = "REVERSED"
 PARTIALLY_REVERSED = "PARTIALLY_REVERSED"
 
+# The closed set of values ``CourtCase.verdict_type`` is *supposed* to hold. The
+# column is a plain CharField with no DB constraint, and historic enrichment
+# wrote raw portal text straight into it — measured 2026-08-06 on prod, 1,323
+# Supreme rows (1.27% of the populated ones, 37 distinct values) hold Nepali
+# strings rather than a member here, including bench referrals
+# (``पूर्ण इजलासमा पेस हुने``), interlocutory orders (``कैफियत प्रतिवेदन माग्ने``)
+# and pure punctuation (``।।।।।।।``). Every such row has a NULL verdict date, so
+# they are enrichment noise rather than asserted verdicts — but a referral
+# rendered as an outcome would tell a reader a live case was decided. Anything
+# crossing a public boundary must therefore be filtered through this set; see
+# ``courts.serializers.CourtCaseSerializer.get_verdict_type``.
+VERDICT_TYPES = frozenset({
+    CONVICTED, ACQUITTED, PARTIALLY_CONVICTED,
+    CLAIM_UPHELD, CLAIM_DENIED, PARTIALLY_UPHELD,
+    SETTLED, WITHDRAWN, DISMISSED, QUASHED,
+    PROCEDURAL, ABEYANCE, STRUCK_OFF, AMENDED, OTHER,
+    AFFIRMED, REVERSED, PARTIALLY_REVERSED,
+})
+
 
 # --- vocabulary --------------------------------------------------------------
 
diff --git a/courts/serializers.py b/courts/serializers.py
index 0ea5017b..a341fca5 100644
--- a/courts/serializers.py
+++ b/courts/serializers.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 from materials.jsonld import court_case_material_iri
 
+from . import case_status as cs
 from .models import (
     BlacklistedFirm,
     CaseEntity,
@@ -27,6 +28,8 @@ class CourtCaseSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
     # The court-case row's synthesized @id IRI (/courtcase/<court>/<case_number>),
     # distinct from the material IRI above. Derived from the composite key.
     courtcase_iri = serializers.CharField(source="iri", read_only=True)
+    # Whitelisted against cs.VERDICT_TYPES — see get_verdict_type below.
+    verdict_type = serializers.SerializerMethodField()
 
     class Meta:
         model = CourtCase
@@ -35,11 +38,29 @@ class Meta:
             "registration_date_ad", "case_type", "case_status",
             "plaintiff", "defendant", "nes_id", "document_sources",
             "material_id", "courtcase_iri",
+            "verdict_type", "verdict_date_bs", "verdict_date_ad",
         ]
 
     def get_material_id(self, obj: CourtCase) -> str:
         return court_case_material_iri(obj.court_id, obj.case_number)
 
+    def get_verdict_type(self, obj: CourtCase) -> str | None:
+        """Expose ``verdict_type`` only when it is a real enum member.
+
+        The column carries no DB constraint and historic Supreme enrichment
+        wrote raw portal text into it (see ``cs.VERDICT_TYPES``). Publishing
+        that verbatim would state an outcome the court never reached — a bench
+        referral such as ``पूर्ण इजलासमा पेस हुने`` ("to be presented to the full
+        bench") reads like a disposition but means the case is still live.
+
+        Unrecognised values become ``None`` rather than leaking: the honest
+        public claim is "we hold no classified verdict for this docket", which
+        is what a null says. The raw value stays in the database for the DQ
+        backfill to repair.
+        """
+        value = (obj.verdict_type or "").strip()
+        return value if value in cs.VERDICT_TYPES else None
+
 
 class CourtCaseHearingSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
     court_identifier = serializers.CharField(source="court_id")
diff --git a/courts/tests/test_api.py b/courts/tests/test_api.py
index 84717423..4fcf6565 100644
--- a/courts/tests/test_api.py
+++ b/courts/tests/test_api.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 from rest_framework import status
 from rest_framework.test import APITestCase
 
+from courts import case_status as cs
 from courts.models import (
     BlacklistedFirm,
     CaseEntity,
@@ -147,6 +148,84 @@ def test_entities_search(self):
         self.assertEqual(len(resp.data["results"]), 1)
 
 
+class VerdictExposureTests(_DbAPITestCase):
+    """``verdict_type`` crosses the public boundary through a whitelist.
+
+    The column has no DB constraint and historic Supreme enrichment wrote raw
+    portal text into it (measured 2026-08-06: 1,323 prod rows, 37 distinct
+    values). The dangerous class is not the punctuation garbage but the bench
+    referrals and interlocutory orders, which read as dispositions while the
+    case is still live — so the serializer must publish only real enum members.
+    """
+
+    @classmethod
+    def setUpTestData(cls):
+        cls.court = Court.objects.create(
+            identifier="supreme",
+            court_type="supreme",
+            full_name_nepali="सर्वोच्च अदालत",
+            full_name_english="Supreme Court",
+        )
+        # A promoted appellate outcome — the shape the case stepper reads.
+        CourtCase.objects.create(
+            case_number="081-CR-1038",
+            court=cls.court,
+            verdict_type="AFFIRMED",
+            verdict_date_bs="2082-03-20",
+            verdict_date_ad=date(2025, 7, 4),
+        )
+        # A bench referral stored raw in verdict_type. Reads like a decision
+        # ("to be presented to the full bench"); the case is still live, and
+        # every such prod row carries a NULL verdict date exactly as here.
+        CourtCase.objects.create(
+            case_number="076-RB-0582",
+            court=cls.court,
+            verdict_type="पूर्ण इजलासमा पेस हुने",
+        )
+        # Scrape garbage, likewise seen in prod.
+        CourtCase.objects.create(
+            case_number="067-WO-0527", court=cls.court, verdict_type="।।।।।।।",
+        )
+        # Never enriched at all.
+        CourtCase.objects.create(case_number="081-CR-1318", court=cls.court)
+
+    def _get(self, case_number):
+        resp = self.client.get(f"/api/courtcases/supreme/{case_number}")
+        self.assertEqual(resp.status_code, status.HTTP_200_OK)
+        return resp.data
+
+    def test_enum_member_is_published_with_its_dates(self):
+        data = self._get("081-CR-1038")
+        self.assertEqual(data["verdict_type"], "AFFIRMED")
+        self.assertEqual(data["verdict_date_bs"], "2082-03-20")
+        self.assertEqual(str(data["verdict_date_ad"]), "2025-07-04")
+
+    def test_bench_referral_is_not_published_as_a_verdict(self):
+        data = self._get("076-RB-0582")
+        self.assertIsNone(data["verdict_type"])
+        self.assertIsNone(data["verdict_date_bs"])
+
+    def test_scrape_garbage_is_not_published(self):
+        self.assertIsNone(self._get("067-WO-0527")["verdict_type"])
+
+    def test_unenriched_docket_reports_null(self):
+        self.assertIsNone(self._get("081-CR-1318")["verdict_type"])
+
+    def test_whitelist_covers_every_declared_constant(self):
+        """Guards against a new verdict constant being added and silently
+        dropped on the wire because nobody updated ``VERDICT_TYPES``."""
+        declared = {
+            value
+            for name, value in vars(cs).items()
+            if name.isupper()
+            and not name.startswith("_")
+            and isinstance(value, str)
+            and value == name
+            and name not in {"PENDING", "DECIDED", "UNKNOWN"}  # lifecycle, not verdict
+        }
+        self.assertEqual(declared, set(cs.VERDICT_TYPES))
+
+
 class SearchRetiredTests(_DbAPITestCase):
     """The NGM 501 search stub was retired in the unified-search cutover.