In short. Lost in a commercial court? You can appeal under Section 13 of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015. You get 60 days from the judgment. Not 90. In Delhi NCR the appeal goes to the Commercial Appellate Division of the High Court, which the law asks to try and decide it within six months, though plenty run longer. Filing doesn't stop the decree, so the other side can still execute. This week, apply for a certified copy, write down your 60-day date, and decide whether you need a stay.
Is this your situation?
- The commercial court has passed a money decree against your company, and you're convinced the judge got it wrong.
- You actually won. But the court knocked your interest down to almost nothing and threw out a chunk of the claim.
- An interim injunction was granted against you, or refused to you, and it's hurting the business every week it stays.
- You applied to set aside an ex parte decree. That was dismissed too.
- The decree holder has already filed for execution, and you've heard they're going after your bank account.
- Your 60 days are almost up. Or they ran out last Tuesday.
- The other side has appealed your decree, and you want to make sure it doesn't sit frozen for years.
What a commercial appeal actually is
It's a challenge, under Section 13 of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, to a judgment or to certain orders of a Commercial Court or the Commercial Division of a High Court. A higher bench looks at the case again on the record that already exists. It asks whether the trial court got the law and the evidence right, and then it can confirm the decree, change it or set it aside. It isn't a fresh trial. You usually can't bring in new evidence.
You have 60 days from the judgment or order. Ordinary civil first appeals get 90, so this is tighter, and courts take it seriously. In Government of Maharashtra v. Borse Brothers Engineers and Contractors (2021), the Supreme Court held that delay past this period can be condoned only by way of exception, never as routine, and only if the party wasn't negligent. That case gets cited against late appellants constantly.
Most of the appeals we see are about money. A decree for unpaid invoices, refund of an advance, damages for a broken supply or service contract, or just interest. Fewer are about injunctions in brand and lease fights. The procedure is broadly the same. Urgency and the stay question aren't, and we take each in turn below.
The law, without the jargon
Section 13(1A), Commercial Courts Act, 2015
If you're aggrieved by a judgment or order of a Commercial Court at District Judge level, or of a High Court's Commercial Division, you can appeal to that High Court's Commercial Appellate Division within 60 days. Some states have commercial courts below District Judge level. For those, Section 13(1) sends appeals to a Commercial Appellate Court at district level, again within 60 days.
Proviso to Section 13(1A) and Section 13(2)
You can't appeal every order. An appeal lies only against orders listed in Order XLIII of the CPC and orders under Section 37 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. Nothing else. That includes a letters patent appeal within the High Court, which isn't available.
Section 8, Commercial Courts Act, 2015
There's no civil revision against an interlocutory order of a Commercial Court, not even on jurisdiction. You raise those complaints in the appeal against the final decree. A writ under Article 227 is still possible where the lack of jurisdiction is patent. High Courts entertain these very sparingly.
Section 14, Commercial Courts Act, 2015
The appellate court has to endeavour to decide the appeal within six months of filing. It's an instruction to try. Miss it, and the appeal carries on.
Order XLI, CPC
Rule 1 deals with filing the memorandum of appeal, and in money decrees it lets the court ask the appellant to deposit the disputed amount or give security. Rule 5 says an appeal isn't a stay and lays down when one can be granted. Under Rule 22, the respondent can file cross-objections within one month of being served with notice of the appeal. Rule 27 restricts additional evidence.
Section 12, Limitation Act, 1963
When you count the 60 days, leave out the day of the judgment. Also leave out the time it took to get a certified copy of the judgment and decree. But that second part works only if you applied for the copy within the limitation period.
Which High Court hears it
In Delhi, a commercial suit is tried in one of two places. Either a District Judge (Commercial Court) at a district complex (Saket, Tis Hazari, Karkardooma, Rohini, Dwarka, Patiala House), or a single judge sitting in the Delhi High Court's Commercial Division on the original side. Both lead to the same appeal forum: the Commercial Appellate Division of the Delhi High Court, a Division Bench of two judges. Final-decree appeals get numbered as RFA (COMM). Appeals from orders get FAO (COMM). How listing works there is on our Delhi High Court Commercial Appellate Division page.
Uttar Pradesh is different. Lose in the commercial court at Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar or another UP district, and you appeal to the Commercial Appellate Division of the Allahabad High Court. Whether you end up at Prayagraj or the Lucknow Bench turns on the district your case started in. Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar, being western UP, go to Allahabad.
From Gurugram, Faridabad and the rest of Haryana, it's the Commercial Appellate Division of the Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh. Your office may be in Connaught Place. If the decree was passed in Gurugram, you're appealing in Chandigarh. Clients forget to price in the travel, and the cost of briefing counsel at another High Court, when they weigh up an appeal. Price it in.
What you can appeal, and what you can't
You can always appeal a final judgment and decree. You can also appeal the orders in the Order XLIII Rule 1 CPC list. That list covers temporary injunctions under Order XXXIX (granted or refused), attachment before judgment, appointment of a receiver, and the rejection of an Order IX Rule 13 application to set aside an ex parte decree. Stuck with an ex parte decree? Our page on setting aside an ex parte decree shows how the application and the appeal work together.
Plenty of orders have no appeal at all. Refusal of an amendment. An order closing your right to file a written statement. An order framing issues. None of them is on the Order XLIII list, and Section 8 shuts out revision. You hold on to that grievance and argue it in the appeal from the final decree. We've watched businesses burn months on petitions against orders like these, only to have the High Court refuse to touch them.
Interim relief sits in its own box. Appeals against injunction orders, or against an Order XXXVIII Rule 5 attachment before judgment, tend to be urgent and move fast. What the trial court weighs on these is explained on our pages on interim injunctions and attachment before judgment. The appeal bench tests the very same points.
Counting your 60 days
Count from the date the judgment was pronounced. Not the date it reached you. Leave out the day of judgment itself. Then add the time it took to issue the certified copy, but only if you applied for that copy within the 60 days. The gap between applying and the copy being ready is excluded. Any days you sat on it before applying are not.
So apply for the certified copy on the day of judgment, or the next working day at the latest. Most courts now upload signed judgments online, and the High Courts let you file with an uncertified or downloaded copy plus an application for exemption. Still, the copy rules matter for limitation if you're cutting it close.
Missed the 60 days? File the appeal immediately with an application for condonation of delay, and explain every week of delay with documents. Since Borse Brothers, courts have thrown out commercial appeals where the only explanation was internal approvals, a change of counsel or general business pressure. A short delay with a specific reason does better. The person handling the case falling seriously ill, for example.
Grounds that actually work
The appeals that land best point to one clear error that changes the result. Typical ones: a claim decreed even though it was time-barred, a decree against the wrong party, interest far above the contract rate or any ordinary commercial rate, a finding that ignores a signed document sitting on the record, or a suit that should have been dismissed because pre-institution mediation under Section 12A was skipped without any urgent relief being sought.
Misreading the evidence counts too. If the trial court relied on an invoice that was never proved, or brushed past the ledger confirmation the plaintiff itself filed, the appeal court can put that right. When Advocate B.K. Singh reads a judgment for appeal, he lines up the issues framed against the findings recorded. A judgment that never answers an issue, or answers one that was never framed, is very often where the real ground is hiding.
What doesn't work? Asking the appeal court to see the same facts differently. In a first appeal the court does re-examine evidence, but it gives weight to the trial judge, who actually watched the witnesses. New evidence comes in only within the narrow limits of Order XLI Rule 27, say, a document that couldn't be produced earlier despite due diligence.
Know what the appeal court can do. It can dismiss the appeal. It can allow it and dismiss the suit, or cut the amount or the interest. Or, under Order XLI Rules 23 to 25, it can send the case back to the trial court where an issue wasn't tried or evidence was wrongly shut out. A remand isn't a win. It's another round in the trial court, often a year or more. Ask for one only when the record genuinely can't support a final decision.
Getting a stay, and the deposit you'll be asked for
An appeal doesn't stop the decree. Under Order XLI Rule 5, the decree holder can carry on with execution unless the appeal court grants a stay. To get one, you have to show substantial loss without it, apply without unreasonable delay, and give security for performance of the decree.
In money decrees, the usual order is a stay on condition that the appellant deposits the decretal amount, or a large part of it, in court within a few weeks. Sometimes the court accepts a bank guarantee or a charge on property instead. The deposit generally goes into an interest-bearing fixed deposit. The decree holder may be allowed to withdraw it on furnishing security, in which case the appeal carries on but the money has already changed hands. Keep that in mind.
If you can't deposit, or won't, execution will usually go ahead. Our page on execution of a decree explains what the decree holder can do, from attaching your bank account to selling property. Work out the deposit before you file. On the first day, you want to tell the bench exactly what you're offering.
Injunction appeals work differently. There's no money to put down, so the court weighs the balance of convenience again. Is the order below causing harm that can't be undone, like a shop being shut or a brand being pulled mid-season? These appeals are usually listed within days. The bench may put a short interim arrangement in place until it's heard both sides.
Filing a commercial appeal, step by step
This is the usual order. If you need a stay, steps 3 to 5 happen together in the first fortnight.
Get the judgment and fix your date
Apply for certified copies of the judgment and decree straight away. Note the date of judgment and your last date for appeal, and count the copy period carefully.
Have the record read for grounds
Your advocate goes through the plaint, written statement, issues, evidence and judgment and lists the specific errors. Ask for a frank view on your chances, and on the stay. Do that before you commit to what the appeal will cost.
Prepare the memorandum of appeal
The memorandum sets out the grounds in numbered paragraphs, with a list of dates and a short synopsis. It's filed along with the judgment, decree and the key documents from the trial record. A company adds a board resolution or authority letter.
Pay court fee and file
On an appeal against a money decree, court fee is ad valorem on the amount disputed in appeal, on the same scale as a plaint in that state. The Delhi High Court, like most High Courts, now takes filings online through its e-filing portal.
Apply for a stay if you need one
File an application under Order XLI Rule 5 with the appeal. Say what loss you face and what security you're offering. If execution is close, ask for urgent listing.
Admission hearing
The Division Bench hears the appeal for admission. It may issue notice to the respondent, grant an interim stay on terms, or call for the trial court record. It can also dismiss the appeal right there if it finds nothing arguable.
Paper book, reply and cross-objections
Once the appeal is admitted, the trial record is called for or a paper book is filed. The respondent can file cross-objections within one month of notice. Then the matter waits its turn in the regular list. This part can be slow.
Final hearing and judgment
Both sides argue on the record. The court confirms, modifies or reverses the decree. Sometimes it sends the matter back to the trial court on a specific point.
The timelines here are typical ranges, not promises. Listing practice varies a fair bit from one High Court to the next.
Time and cost at each stage
| Stage | Court fee and other costs | How long it usually takes |
|---|---|---|
| Certified copy of judgment and decree | Copying charges, normally small | Anywhere from a few days to a fortnight; excluded from limitation if you applied inside the 60 days |
| Filing the appeal | Ad valorem fee on whatever amount you dispute in appeal, at that state's rates; check the current schedule for Delhi, UP or Haryana | Inside 60 days of judgment (Section 13) |
| Appeal from an order (FAO type) | Usually a lower fixed fee; confirm today's figure with the registry | Inside 60 days of the order |
| Stay application and deposit | Whatever deposit or security the bench fixes (not a fee; the money sits in court or a bank) | Frequently dealt with at the first or second listing |
| Admission and notice | Process fee to serve the other side | Several weeks, sometimes a few months |
| Trial record or paper book | Photocopying and getting the paper book ready | Two to six months |
| Final hearing | Only costs, if the court awards any | Section 14 says try for six months; one to two years is common |
| Mediation in appeal, if the bench refers it | Per the High Court mediation centre's rates, often nominal | A handful of sittings over one to three months |
Papers you'll need for the appeal
From the trial court file
- The certified judgment, plus the decree sheet
- Plaint, written statement and counter-claim if there was one
- Issues as framed, and every order sheet
- Evidence affidavits and what was said in cross-examination
- All the exhibits either side leaned on
For the stay and the deposit
- The execution petition and any attachment orders already passed
- Latest bank statements or a balance sheet, to show you can put up money or security
- A draft bank guarantee, or papers for the property you're offering
- Anything you've already paid against the decree
From your own office
- Board resolution, partnership authority or proprietor's affidavit
- Whatever document you think the judge missed, with its exhibit number
- Your own short chronology (it helps your advocate check the record quickly)
- Certificate under Section 63 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 for electronic records already on file, if the trial court found it missing
If you won: keeping your decree safe when they appeal
Expecting an appeal? File a caveat under Section 148A CPC in the High Court. It lasts 90 days, and while it's alive the court has to hear you before passing any order, a stay included. So the appellant can't walk away with an interim order behind your back. In Delhi it's a short filing. We'd do it within days of the judgment.
When the appeal comes up, the stay is what matters to you. Ask the court to make any stay conditional on deposit of the full decretal amount with interest, and to let you withdraw it on security. And keep pressing execution in the meantime. A decree holder who does that tends to get a deposit offer quite quickly.
Maybe you won but you're unhappy with part of the decree. The interest rate came in below the contract rate, say, or costs were refused. You can file your own appeal within 60 days, or file cross-objections under Order XLI Rule 22 within one month of being served with notice of the other side's appeal. Our guide on interest in recovery suits explains how courts fix interest in commercial cases. That's where a lot of cross-objections start.
Mistakes we see again and again
- Treating the appeal as a stay. Execution carries on until the appeal court stays it. Most businesses find this out the day a bank account gets attached.
- Counting 90 days. Ordinary civil appeals get 90 days. Commercial appeals get 60, and lawyers used to non-commercial work sometimes slip on this.
- Filing a revision against an interim order. Section 8 bars it. Make a note of the grievance and keep it for the final appeal.
- Throwing in every ground. Thirty unfocused grounds bury the two that matter. Benches respond to a short list of clear errors.
- Walking in with no deposit plan. Turn up at admission without knowing what you can offer and you'll likely get the stay refused, or a deadline you can't meet.
- Waiting on internal approvals. The board meeting was postponed, or the group legal head was travelling. Courts don't usually accept that as a reason for delay.
After the appeal: the Supreme Court, and review
Lose in the Commercial Appellate Division and you can still try the Supreme Court, by a special leave petition under Article 136 of the Constitution. The usual window is 90 days. Leave isn't a right. The Supreme Court turns most commercial cases away unless they raise a substantial question of law or show a serious injustice. An Advocate-on-Record has to file it. More on that on our Supreme Court commercial appeals page.
Review is narrower still. A petition under Order XLVII CPC goes back to the same bench within 30 days, and only for an error apparent on the face of the record. Don't treat it as a second appeal. It almost never changes the outcome.
Orders under Section 37 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act are appealed to the Commercial Appellate Division as well. What you're allowed to attack there follows different rules, and we cover that on arbitrationlawyer.in.
How it looks for suppliers, lenders, startups, MSMEs and large companies
For a supplier or service provider that won its recovery suit, the appeal is mostly something to defend. The job is keeping the decree alive. Any stay should come with proper conditions. For the buyer that lost, the question is whether the appeal raises a real error or just buys time. Appeal benches see a lot of the second kind. They tend to protect decree holders through deposit orders.
Lenders who made inter-corporate deposits or trade advances often find the appeal turns on interest and limitation, not the principal. MSMEs registered under the MSMED Act, 2006 should check whether the trial court applied the statutory rate (three times the RBI bank rate) if they claimed it. It's a frequent ground for cross-objections.
Startups and smaller firms with a decree against them often can't deposit the full amount. Where the appeal raises a genuine point, courts sometimes take a part deposit with security for the rest, or a charge on receivables. Large companies are usually expected to pay in full. The law is the same across Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. The High Court isn't, and neither is its listing speed or court fee schedule, so cost and time both shift depending on where you are.
An invented example: the interest that doubled the decree
This is a made-up example. A Delhi client took a Gurugram IT services firm to the commercial court at Saket, wanting back Rs 80 lakh it had paid for a software project. The judge decreed Rs 80 lakh plus interest at 18 percent a year from 2021, finding the software was never delivered. When the decree came in July 2026, the total was past Rs 1.5 crore.
The firm's own files said otherwise. Two of the four milestones had been signed off, there were emails from the client accepting delivery, and the contract said nothing at all about interest. The emails were on record. The judgment never mentioned them. The firm applied for the certified copy the very next day and filed in the Delhi High Court's Commercial Appellate Division on day 41, attacking both the non-delivery finding and the interest rate. It offered Rs 80 lakh as a deposit for a stay.
At admission, the bench issued notice and stayed execution on deposit of Rs 80 lakh within four weeks. Later the bench sent the parties to the High Court's mediation centre, where they agreed a lower figure. Purely an illustration. Another bench, with other facts, could have said no to the stay or decided the appeal quite differently.
Is an appeal worth it?
Appeal when the judgment has a specific error that would change the result, and the money at stake justifies the court fee, the deposit and a year or two of your attention. Think hard before appealing if your only complaint is that the trial court believed the other side's witnesses. Same if depositing the full amount would hurt the business more than a negotiated payment. Oddly, settlement talks often go better once an appeal is pending and a stay is in place, because now both sides can see the risk. Our page on settling a case midway explains how a settlement gets recorded so it binds everyone.
In appeals that come to Advocate B.K. Singh, the most useful thing a client can do in week one is bring the whole trial record, not just the judgment. That's the only way to test the grounds against what was actually proved. If you'd like your judgment and record read before your 60 days run out, share them with Advocate B.K. Singh's team through our contact page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the time limit for appeal under the Commercial Courts Act?
Section 13 gives you 60 days from the judgment or order. If you applied for the certified copy inside that window, the days spent waiting for it don't count. Courts excuse a delay past 60 days only by way of exception.
Where do I file an appeal against a Delhi commercial court judgment?
The Delhi High Court's Commercial Appellate Division. That's true whether you lost before a District Judge (Commercial Court) in one of Delhi's districts or before the High Court's Commercial Division. A Ghaziabad or Noida decree is appealed in the Allahabad High Court, and a Gurugram or Faridabad decree in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Does filing an appeal stop execution of the decree?
No, it doesn't. Order XLI Rule 5 CPC is clear that an appeal isn't a stay. You need a separate stay order, and for a money decree the bench will normally want a deposit or security.
Do I have to deposit the full decree amount to get a stay?
Usually, but not every time. The bench weighs how good the appeal looks and what the appellant can manage, and may settle for part in cash and security for the balance. Have a concrete offer ready.
Can I appeal against an interim order of a commercial court?
Only orders on the Order XLIII CPC list, such as temporary injunctions, attachment before judgment or appointing a receiver. Anything else can't be appealed or revised now. You raise it later, in the appeal from the final decree.
Can I add new evidence in a commercial appeal?
Rarely. Order XLI Rule 27 CPC allows it in narrow cases, like a document you genuinely couldn't produce at trial despite due diligence. Expect the appeal to turn on the trial record.
How long does a commercial appeal take?
Section 14 tells the court to aim for six months. One to two years is more typical, depending on the High Court and whether a stay is running. Injunction appeals tend to be heard faster.
Can I go to the Supreme Court after the commercial appeal?
You can file a special leave petition under Article 136, normally within 90 days of the High Court's judgment. Leave is granted in relatively few cases. It must be filed by an Advocate-on-Record.