Introduction: The short-term prognosis of acutely ill patients with cirrhosis is influenced by the degree of hepatic and extrahepatic organ dysfunction. Objective: This study intends to find the parameters that influence the outcome in cirrhotics requiring critical care. Methods: This was a single-centre, prospective, observational study. Prognostic scores were calculated on the day of admission and day 7. The appearance of new events and length of hospital stay was documented. Follow up was done at day 30 in person or by telephone for those who had left the hospital. Results: Out of 96 subjects 12 were lost to follow up, 84 subjects followed of which 55 expired within 30 days of admission. On multivariate analysis older age, presence of Malena, oliguria, presence of infective foci, hepatic encephalopathy, low platelet count and pH, high lactate, creatinine, bilirubin, serum ferritin were predictors of mortality. Mean serum ferritin levels were significantly higher (p__ampersandsignlt;0.001) in non-survivors (922.95 __ampersandsignplusmn; 319.85) as compared to survivors (368.17__ampersandsignplusmn; 113.87). Lower ROC was observed for liver-specific scores CTP (0.727), MELD (0.79) and MELD Na (0.77) as compared to general ICU scores SOFA (0.808), APACHE II (0.855) on the day of admission. Conclusions: CLIF SOFA score which is a combination of liver-specific scores and ICU scores should replace CTP and MELD to predict short term mortality in critically ill liver cirrhotics. Serum ferritin as a biomarker has good ability in anticipating the outcome. An ideal score should include ferritin along with the assessment of multi-organ functioning.