Weighing your request
Weighing your request
Quick Answer
Appeal is the right to seek correction of a lower court's decision. Civil appeals: from civil court to District Court (first appeal under Section 96 CPC); from District Court to High Court (second appeal under Section 100 CPC, on substantial questions of law only); from High Court to Supreme Court (Article 133, Letters Patent Appeal where applicable). Criminal appeals: under Section 415 BNSS to Sessions Court; under Section 419 BNSS to High Court; SLP under Article 136 to Supreme Court. Limitation periods are short (typically 30, 60, or 90 days) and strict.
Statutory reference
Section 96, 100 CPC / Section 415, 419 BNSS
Three questions decide every appeal before its merits are ever reached: does a right of appeal exist at all (it is purely statutory), what is the limitation period (typically 30, 60, or 90 days, strictly counted from the judgment or its certified copy), and what must be deposited to be heard (consumer and RERA appeals carry statutory pre-deposits). A civil first appeal under Section 96 CPC is a full re-hearing on fact and law; a second appeal under Section 100 lies only on a substantial question of law, which the High Court must frame — most second appeals die at admission. Filing the appeal does not stay the decree: a separate stay application is needed. And the respondent is not passive — cross-objections allow the winner below to challenge the parts it lost, so an appeal can end worse than the judgment appealed from.
Worked example
A Ghaziabad contractor loses a suit and faces a ₹22 lakh decree with 12% interest. Within 30 days he files a first appeal before the District Judge with a stay application; the stay is granted against deposit of half the amount. Because the first appeal is a full re-hearing, the appellate court re-examines the ledgers and finds the trial court double-counted one invoice and applied a contractual interest clause that had lapsed — the decree is reduced to ₹15 lakh with 9% interest. The decree-holder's cross-objection on a disallowed claim fails. Neither side got everything, which is the routine truth of appellate practice: recalibration is common, reversal is rare.
Related practice areas
Statutory remedy seeking review of a lower court's judgment by a higher court. Appeals are creature of statute — no inherent right of appeal exists; the right must be conferred by specific statutory provision.
Appeal is governed by Section 96, 100 CPC / Section 415, 419 BNSS. Appeal is the right to seek correction of a lower court's decision. Civil appeals: from civil court to District Court (first appeal under Section 96 CPC); from District Court to High Court (second appeal under Section 100 CPC, on substantial questions of law only); from High Court to Supreme Court (Article 133, Letters Patent Appeal where applicable). Criminal appeals: under Section 415 BNSS to Sessions Court; under Section 419 BNSS to High Court; SLP under Article 136 to Supreme Court. Limitation periods are short (typically 30, 60, or 90 days) and strict.
Appeal falls under Civil Law, Criminal Law. NyaySevak matches you with a Bar-Council-verified advocate in the relevant practice area — your first step is a free case assessment with no obligation.
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