Appeals: Questions and Answers

You file it within 60 days. It goes to either the Commercial Appellate Court or the Commercial Appellate Division of the High Court, under Section 13 of the Act. Our commercial appeal page walks through it.

Start with the paperwork. Apply for a certified copy of the judgment and decree, and put the 60-day deadline in your diary. Section 13 of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 gives you 60 days from the judgment, and the days spent waiting for the certified copy only come off if you applied inside that window. Then find out whether the decree holder can begin execution. Filing an appeal doesn't stop that on its own. Only after this should someone read the whole record for errors and help you decide. Our page on the commercial appeal process takes you through each stage.

From the date of the judgment or order. Not the day the copy reached you. The judgment day itself isn't counted. Section 12 of the Limitation Act, 1963 also leaves out the time taken to get a certified copy, but that clock only starts once you've applied. Sit on it for 50 days before applying and you've got about ten left, however slowly the copying section moves after that. We'd apply on the day of judgment. The next working day at the latest.

In most High Courts, you can. Delhi and several others accept an appeal filed with a downloaded or uncertified copy of the judgment, as long as you add an application asking to be excused from filing the certified copy and undertake to file it later. If time's tight or you need a stay quickly, that's the safer way. Still apply for the certified copy right away. The registry will chase you for it. And if anyone raises delay later, the limitation sums depend on it.

In Delhi, UP and Haryana, it'll almost always be the Commercial Appellate Division of the High Court. Section 13(1A) of the Commercial Courts Act routes appeals there from commercial courts at District Judge level, and from the High Court's own Commercial Division. A Commercial Appellate Court is something else: a district-level court hearing appeals from commercial courts below District Judge level. Only some states have those. Ghaziabad and Noida matters go up to the Allahabad High Court. Gurugram and Faridabad matters go to Chandigarh. See the Delhi High Court Commercial Appellate Division.

Very likely. Under Section 35 of the CPC, as substituted for commercial disputes, costs follow the event as a general rule. The losing side usually pays the winner, and the court can look at the fees and expenses actually incurred. Frivolous appeals draw costs too, and so do adjournments that could've been avoided. All of it sits on top of the decree and interest. Keep an eye on your own side as well. An appellant who keeps asking for dates, or files the paper book late, often pays costs well before the final hearing.

Just the part you're disputing. Court fee on an appeal from a money decree is ad valorem, worked out on whatever portion of the decree you want set aside, using the same scale as a plaint in that state. Suppose you accept the principal and only fight Rs 18 lakh of interest. The fee is calculated on that Rs 18 lakh, nothing more. Appeals against orders, rather than decrees, generally carry a smaller fixed fee. Look up the current schedule for Delhi, UP or Haryana before filing. Don't go by an old chart.

There's no automatic pre-deposit of the kind some tribunal appeals have, such as the 75 percent rule for DRAT appeals under the RDB Act. But Order XLI Rule 1(3) of the CPC allows the appeal court, in an appeal against a money decree, to tell you to deposit the disputed sum or give security within a time it sets. In practice this comes up when you ask for a stay. Don't want a stay? Then the appeal usually runs on while the decree holder executes. Keep money aside for a possible deposit, not just the court fee.

You can ask, and courts do sometimes agree. Normally a money decree is stayed only if the full amount, or a big chunk of it, is deposited in court. An appeal court may take a bank guarantee instead, or a charge on property that's free of loans, or some mix of the two. Your chances improve if balance sheets and bank statements show a genuine cash squeeze. When Advocate B.K. Singh seeks a stay on security, he files the property papers or a draft guarantee with the application, so the bench can act at the first hearing. Vague promises don't get far. They tend to end in an order to put cash in within a few weeks.

It does, unless you've paid or properly deposited the amount. A money decree usually carries future interest from the decree date until payment under Section 34 of the CPC, and filing an appeal doesn't freeze it. Putting the money in court generally stops interest on whatever's deposited, depending on what the order says and on notice to the decree holder. If you appeal without depositing and lose two years later, the bill can be a good deal bigger. Work that figure out before deciding. It often surprises people.

It can, though only as part of a stay on terms. File the appeal with an application under Order XLI Rule 5 of the CPC, press for urgent listing, and offer a deposit or security. The appeal court may then stay further execution and order that the attached money be held, freed against security, or counted toward your deposit. It'll rarely release an attachment for nothing in return. Our page on execution of a decree explains what the decree holder can do in the meantime.

Sometimes, if the court allows it. Appeal courts often park the deposit in an interest-bearing fixed deposit. They can also let the decree holder take it out on furnishing security, like a bank guarantee or an undertaking to return it with interest if your appeal succeeds. As the appellant, you'd normally oppose withdrawal without security. Push harder where the decree holder is a small company with few assets. And if you win, Section 144 of the CPC lets you get back money paid under a decree that's since been reversed.

If you think an appeal with a stay application is coming, yes. File a caveat under Section 148A of the CPC in the High Court where the appeal will lie, and no interim order can be made on that appeal without notice to you. It's valid for 90 days from filing. So file it soon after judgment, and renew it if you need to. It costs very little. It also puts you in a position to argue that any stay should be on full deposit. Meanwhile, file for execution too. A decree holder who's actually executing tends to see a deposit offer quite fast.

Probably not, if that's the only reason. In Government of Maharashtra v. Borse Brothers Engineers and Contractors (2021), the Supreme Court held that delay in commercial appeals is condoned only as an exception, where the party acted in good faith and wasn't negligent. A director being abroad, approvals stuck inside the company, a change of lawyer: courts have turned all of these down. File immediately anyway, with an application under Section 5 of the Limitation Act that accounts for every day and attaches documents. Serious illness of the person handling the case is a far better ground.

Both. An appeal from a decree under Section 13 is a first appeal, so it's a rehearing on facts as well as law. The Division Bench can go through the evidence again, test what the trial court found and reach its own conclusions. It does give the trial judge some deference on whether witnesses were believable, since that judge saw them in the box. When Advocate B.K. Singh reads a judgment for appeal, he lines up each issue against the evidence the finding actually relies on. That's usually where first appeals are decided: findings with no evidence behind them, or a misread exhibit.

You can. An appeal can be confined to one piece of the decree, say the rate or period of interest, the costs, or a single head of damages. A narrow appeal means less court fee. It's often more convincing as well, since it shows you aren't fighting what's plainly owed. Pay or deposit the undisputed part. That also helps when you ask for the rest to be stayed. Our guide on interest in recovery suits explains how courts fix commercial interest.

You can, by filing cross-objections. Order XLI Rule 22 of the CPC lets a respondent file them within one month of being served with notice of the appeal, attacking whatever part of the decree went against it, such as a cut in the interest rate or costs that were refused. Your own separate appeal within 60 days of the judgment is also an option. Cross-objections survive even if the appellant later drops its appeal. Court fee is payable on what you claim in them.

No. Section 13(2) of the Commercial Courts Act bars any appeal from a commercial court's order or decree except as the Act itself provides, whatever another law or the Letters Patent might say. Once the Commercial Appellate Division has ruled, that's the end of it in the High Court. No second appeal. No letters patent appeal either. All that's left is a special leave petition to the Supreme Court under Article 136, ordinarily within 90 days. Treat the High Court appeal as your last full hearing on facts, and prepare for it that way.

It won't. A special leave petition under Article 136 of the Constitution asks the Supreme Court for permission to appeal, and whether to grant it is the Court's call. Plenty of SLPs in money disputes are dismissed at the admission stage unless there's a substantial question of law or a serious injustice. It has to go through an Advocate-on-Record, ordinarily within 90 days of the High Court judgment. Plan for it as a possibility. Not a certainty. Our page on Supreme Court commercial appeals explains the admission stage.

You can, but only for a narrow set of mistakes. A review under Order XLVII of the CPC lies for an error apparent on the face of the record, for new and important evidence you couldn't have produced earlier despite due diligence, or for some other sufficient reason. It isn't a second hearing of the appeal. The limit is generally 30 days. And filing a review doesn't automatically stretch the 90 days you have for an SLP against the main judgment. Plot both timelines side by side before choosing.

Yes. A rejected plaint is treated as a decree under Section 2(2) of the CPC, so it's appealable under Section 13 within 60 days, the same as a final judgment. Before you appeal, though, look at the reason for rejection. If it was a defect you can cure, like skipping Section 12A mediation, mediating and filing afresh may be quicker and cheaper than an appeal, if limitation still permits. Order VII Rule 13 expressly allows a fresh plaint on the same cause of action after rejection.

It is. An order returning a plaint under Order VII Rule 10 appears in Order XLIII Rule 1(a) of the CPC, and the proviso to Section 13(1A) allows appeals against orders on that list. You can appeal within 60 days. Or you can take the plaint to the court the judge pointed you to. Which route is faster is the real question. If the other court clearly has jurisdiction and limitation isn't a worry, refiling there often saves a year. Time lost in the wrong court can be excluded under Section 14 of the Limitation Act, as long as you acted in good faith.

Not at this stage, generally. An order allowing or refusing amendment isn't on the Order XLIII list in the CPC, so Section 13 gives you no appeal. And Section 8 of the Commercial Courts Act bars a civil revision against any interlocutory order of a commercial court. Orders framing issues, or refusing to summon a witness, are in the same position. Put your objection on record. If the final decree goes against you, raise it in the appeal from that decree, which Section 105 of the CPC permits.

Only rarely. High Courts have said the revision bar in Section 8 doesn't remove their supervisory power under Article 227 of the Constitution. They use it sparingly, though, for orders passed without jurisdiction or ones that are plainly perverse. A petition that just says the judge read the facts wrongly usually gets dismissed, sometimes with costs, and the suit loses months meanwhile. Before you file, ask yourself honestly whether the grievance can wait for the appeal from the final decree. Most can.

Not by way of appeal. Conditional leave to defend under Order XXXVII isn't one of the appealable orders in Order XLIII, and Section 8 rules out revision. If the condition is plainly unreasonable, the usual route is a petition under Article 227. High Courts take those up only in clear cases. Where leave is refused outright, the court passes a decree, and you can appeal that decree under Section 13 within 60 days. Our page on leave to defend has more.

You can. Section 37(1)(a) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 gives an appeal against an order refusing to refer parties to arbitration under Section 8. The proviso to Section 13(1A) of the Commercial Courts Act lets appeals lie against orders covered by Section 37. The appeal is filed in the Commercial Appellate Division within 60 days. It doesn't cut both ways, though. If the court does send the parties to arbitration, there's no appeal, and the dispute goes to the arbitrator.

Usually, go back to the same court first. Order XXXIX Rule 4 of the CPC lets you apply to have the ex parte order vacated or varied, and Rule 3A asks the court to decide the injunction application within 30 days. An appeal under Order XLIII Rule 1(r) is available against an ex parte injunction. But appeal courts generally want you to have tried the trial court first, unless the order is plainly unjust or the trial court doesn't hear you in time. Our page on interim injunctions explains what the court weighs.

It doesn't. Section 12A covers suits only, so you file the appeal straight in the High Court within 60 days, with no pre-institution mediation. The appeal court can still send the parties to its mediation centre while the appeal is pending, especially in money disputes where only the figure is really being fought over. A settlement there can wrap up the appeal and the execution together. If you're open to settling, say so at the first hearing. Otherwise the appeal may wait years for its turn.

Often, yes. Section 3 of the Limitation Act, 1963 obliges a court to dismiss a time-barred suit even if nobody pleaded limitation as a defence. That means it can be argued in appeal where the facts needed are already on record, like invoice dates and when the last payment came in. It's harder where limitation depends on facts that were never pleaded or proved, for instance whether a certain email amounted to an acknowledgment. Our guide on limitation for recovery of money sets out the periods.

Only if you objected at the first opportunity in the trial court. Section 21 of the CPC says an appeal court shall not allow an objection to the place of suing unless it was raised in the court of first instance at the earliest possible opportunity, and there's been a consequent failure of justice. Picture a defendant who fought the entire trial in Delhi without a word about jurisdiction. It can't then ask the High Court to undo the decree because the suit should've been in Noida. Lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter is a different thing. That can come up later.

Rarely, and only under the narrow rule in Order XLI Rule 27 of the CPC. Additional evidence may be allowed where the trial court wrongly refused to admit it, where the party couldn't produce it earlier despite due diligence, or where the appeal court itself needs it to pronounce judgment. A certificate someone just forgot to file isn't a strong case. Courts have occasionally let one in, but don't count on it. Fix evidence gaps during the trial. In appeal you're mostly stuck with the record you've got.

It means the appeal court thinks the trial went wrong or was left incomplete on some point, and wants that fixed in the lower court rather than deciding everything itself. Under Order XLI Rules 23 to 25 of the CPC, a case can be remanded where a preliminary point was wrongly decided, an issue wasn't framed or tried, or evidence was wrongly kept out. Don't treat a remand as a win. The trial court takes the matter up again, often only on the point specified. That can take a year or more.

Not necessarily, but fresh eyes help. Your trial advocate knows the record inside out. An appeal, though, needs someone who reads it the way the Division Bench will, without any attachment to arguments already run. A lot of businesses keep the trial lawyer on board and bring in appeal counsel to draft the grounds. What really matters is that somebody reads the entire record, not just the judgment. If you'd like the judgment and record looked at before the 60 days run out, you can send them to Advocate B.K. Singh's team through the contact page.