In short. A commercial appeal under Section 13 of the Commercial Courts Act 2015 is the appeal against a judgment, decree or listed order of a commercial court or of the Commercial Division of a High Court. In Delhi it goes to the Commercial Appellate Division of the Delhi High Court, a bench of two judges. It must be filed within 60 days, delay is excused only by way of exception, and the court aims to decide it within six months. If you have lost a commercial case, get the judgment today and count the days.
Is this your situation?
- A district commercial court in Delhi has passed a money decree against your company in a supply, services or loan dispute.
- A single judge of the Delhi High Court's Commercial Division has granted or refused an interim injunction in your business dispute.
- Your challenge to an arbitral award under Section 34 was dismissed, or the award in your favour was set aside.
- Your plaint was rejected or returned, and you are unsure whether to appeal or refile.
- The decree holder has started execution and you want recovery stopped while you appeal.
- Sixty days have passed, or nearly passed, since the judgment.
- You won at trial and have just received notice of the other side's appeal.
Key points
- Count 60 days from the date the judgment was pronounced. Not from the date you received a copy or the date your lawyer told you, and treat the 60th day as a hard deadline.
- Check whether the order is appealable at all. Final judgments and decrees are, but interim orders are appealable only if they are listed in Order XLIII CPC or Section 37 of the Arbitration Act.
- Filing an appeal does not stop the decree. You must ask for a stay, and for a money decree the court usually wants the amount deposited or secured.
- There is no Letters Patent appeal on top. After the Commercial Appellate Division decides, the next step is a special leave petition in the Supreme Court.
- A respondent should not wait for notice. File a caveat if you won, and consider cross-objections once the appeal is served.
Commercial appeal under Section 13: what the law says
Section 13 is the appeal provision of the Commercial Courts Act 2015, the law that sends disputes of a specified value of Rs 3 lakh or more about trade, supply, services, construction, franchising, technology, intellectual property and similar business matters to special commercial courts. A commercial appeal under Section 13 is how a party who has lost before one of those courts asks a higher court to correct the result.
Section 13(1) deals with commercial courts below the level of a District Judge: appeals from them go to the commercial court at the level of a District Judge. Section 13(1A) deals with commercial courts at the level of a District Judge exercising original civil jurisdiction, and with the Commercial Division of a High Court: appeals from them go to the Commercial Appellate Division of the High Court. Both routes have the same time limit, 60 days from the date of the judgment or order.
The proviso to Section 13(1A) limits appeals against orders. An appeal lies from orders of a commercial court or Commercial Division only where the order is specifically listed in Order XLIII of the Code of Civil Procedure, as amended by the Act, or in Section 37 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996. Section 13(2) closes the door on anything else: no appeal lies from any order or decree of these courts except under the Act, whatever any other law or the Letters Patent of a High Court may say.
Section 14 adds a target. The Commercial Appellate Division is to try to dispose of appeals within six months of filing. That is an aim, not a guarantee, but it means commercial appeals in Delhi generally move faster than ordinary civil first appeals.
The Commercial Appellate Division of the Delhi High Court
The Commercial Appellate Division is constituted by the Chief Justice under Section 5 of the Act and sits as a Division Bench, meaning two judges. In the Delhi High Court, commercial appeals are listed before benches assigned this work under the roster, and they carry their own case types. Appeals against final decrees of Delhi's district commercial courts are filed as RFA(COMM), and appeals against their orders as FAO(COMM). Appeals from a single judge of the High Court's Commercial Division are filed as RFA(OS)(COMM) or FAO(OS)(COMM).
In Delhi, the commercial courts in the districts sit at the level of a District Judge, so appeals from them come straight to the High Court under Section 13(1A). Commercial suits above Rs 2 crore are filed on the original side of the High Court itself and heard by its Commercial Division. A proposal to raise that Rs 2 crore limit is pending and needs a change in the law, so check the current limit. Our guide on which commercial cases go to the Commercial Division explains the split.
Because Section 13(2) overrides the Letters Patent, there is no further intra-court appeal. The Supreme Court held in Kandla Export Corporation v. OCI Corporation (2018) that where the Commercial Courts Act does not provide an appeal, a Letters Patent appeal cannot be used to create one. Our guide on Letters Patent appeals in the Delhi High Court explains where that remedy is still available, in non-commercial matters.
The provisions that decide your appeal
Section 13(1A), Commercial Courts Act 2015
Appeal from a District Judge level commercial court or the Commercial Division of a High Court to the Commercial Appellate Division, within 60 days of the judgment or order.
Order XLIII, Rule 1, CPC
The list of appealable orders. It includes orders returning a plaint under Order VII Rule 10, refusing to set aside an ex parte decree under Order IX Rule 13, granting or refusing temporary injunctions under Order XXXIX Rules 1, 2, 2A and 4, attachment before judgment under Order XXXVIII, and appointment of a receiver under Order XL.
Section 37, Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996
Appeals against orders refusing to refer parties to arbitration under Section 8, granting or refusing interim measures under Section 9, and setting aside or refusing to set aside an award under Section 34. No second appeal lies, though a special leave petition to the Supreme Court remains.
Order XLI, CPC
The procedure for first appeals, applied to commercial appeals: the memorandum of appeal, stay of execution under Rule 5, and cross-objections by the respondent under Rule 22.
Section 5, Limitation Act 1963
Allows the court to condone delay for sufficient cause. In commercial appeals the Supreme Court has said it should be used only by way of exception.
Which orders can be appealed, and which cannot
A final judgment and decree can always be appealed under Section 13. That covers a decree after trial, a decree on admission, a summary judgment, and a decree in a summary suit under Order XXXVII after leave to defend is refused. Our guide on summary suits in the Delhi High Court explains how those decrees are reached.
Interim orders are where people go wrong. Only orders listed in Order XLIII or Section 37 can be appealed. An order granting or refusing an interim injunction, appointing a receiver or directing attachment before judgment is appealable. An order closing your right to file a written statement, refusing an amendment of pleadings, framing issues, deciding an application for discovery, or refusing to reject a plaint is not. The Delhi High Court has also held that an order passed in enforcement of an arbitral award under Section 36 is not appealable under Section 13.
The Supreme Court clarified one point in November 2025, in MITC Rolling Mills v. Renuka Realtors. An order rejecting a plaint under Order VII Rule 11 is a decree, so it can be appealed under Section 13(1A); the proviso restricts only appeals against interlocutory orders. An order refusing to reject a plaint, by contrast, is not appealable.
If the order you want to challenge is not appealable, you are not entirely without a remedy. Against a district commercial court, a petition under Article 227 may lie, though the High Court uses that power sparingly in commercial cases. More often the point is kept for the appeal against the final decree, under Section 105 CPC, which lets you raise errors in earlier orders that affected the decision.
The 60 days appeal limit, and why late appeals usually fail
The 60 days appeal period under Section 13 is shorter than the 90 days allowed for an ordinary civil first appeal under Article 116 of the Limitation Act. Parties who are used to ordinary civil litigation, or who change lawyers after losing, are the ones who most often miss it. The period runs from the date of the judgment or order, which in practice means the date it was pronounced or uploaded with your knowledge.
In Government of Maharashtra v. Borse Brothers Engineers and Contractors (2021), the Supreme Court held that Section 5 of the Limitation Act does apply to these appeals, but delay should be condoned only by way of exception and not by way of rule, where the party acted bona fide and was not negligent, and generally only for short delays. The judgment was given in the context of Section 37 arbitration appeals, which also fall under Section 13(1A) when the dispute is commercial, but the reasoning has been applied to commercial appeals generally.
Time spent obtaining a certified copy can be excluded under Section 12 of the Limitation Act. Do not plan around that. The Delhi High Court accepts appeals filed with a downloaded copy of the judgment along with an application for exemption from filing a certified copy, so the sensible course is to file within 60 days of pronouncement.
When Advocate B.K. Singh is handed a commercial decree, the first thing he writes on the file is the date of pronouncement and the 60th day counted from it, before reading the merits. A delay application drafted on day 75, explaining that the managing director was travelling or that the old lawyer did not inform the company, is the kind the court most often rejects.
Stopping recovery while the appeal is pending
An appeal does not operate as a stay. Under Order XLI Rule 5 CPC, execution of the decree can go on unless the appellate court orders otherwise. If you are the judgment debtor, the stay application matters as much as the grounds of appeal, and it should be filed with the appeal, not later.
For a money decree, the Delhi High Court usually grants a stay on condition that the decretal amount, or a substantial part of it, is deposited with the Registry or secured by a bank guarantee. The court may allow the decree holder to withdraw a part on furnishing security. Where the appeal raises a strong point, such as a decree passed without considering a limitation defence, the court may reduce the deposit, but it rarely waives it entirely.
Advocate B.K. Singh usually asks a client, before the appeal is drafted, how much it can deposit or secure within two weeks. At the stay hearing, a firm and realistic offer often carries more weight than a long list of grounds, and it avoids the situation where the court grants a stay on terms the company cannot meet and execution resumes anyway.
If execution has already started, tell the executing court that an appeal and stay application are filed, and ask it to wait briefly. It is not bound to do so, so the stay application should be mentioned for early listing. Our page on execution of decrees and awards explains what the decree holder can do in the meantime.
Appeals against interim injunctions
Many commercial appeals are not against final decrees at all. They challenge an interim injunction granted or refused by a single judge in a trademark, supply, distribution or construction dispute. These are appealable under Order XLIII Rule 1(r), and they are often decided within weeks because the business harm is immediate.
The standard is narrower than a fresh hearing. Under the principle in Wander Ltd v. Antox India (1990), the appellate court does not substitute its own view merely because it might have decided differently. It interferes where the single judge ignored settled principles, acted arbitrarily or perversely, or overlooked material facts. An appeal that only re-argues the balance of convenience usually fails.
In intellectual property suits heard by the Delhi High Court's Intellectual Property Division, appeals against interim orders in commercial suits also go to the Commercial Appellate Division as FAO(OS)(COMM). Speed matters most here, because an injunction against a brand or product can shut down a line of business while the appeal waits.
Arbitration appeals under Section 37 come the same way
Where the arbitration concerns a commercial dispute of the specified value, appeals under Section 37 are commercial appeals under Section 13(1A) and follow the 60-day limit. That covers orders refusing to refer parties to arbitration, orders granting or refusing interim measures under Section 9, and orders setting aside or refusing to set aside an award under Section 34. Our guide on challenging an arbitral award under Section 34 explains the stage before the appeal.
The scope of a Section 37 appeal is narrower still. The appellate court examines whether the Section 34 court stayed within the limited grounds for interfering with an award, not whether the arbitrator was right on the facts. Orders appointing an arbitrator under Section 11 are not appealable at all.
For businesses that want more detail on commercial suits, mediation under Section 12A and execution of commercial decrees, our network site on commercial court cases covers the trial stage at length.
Which court hears your appeal, and why
The forum depends on which court passed the decree. A decree of a District Judge level commercial court at Tis Hazari, Saket, Patiala House, Karkardooma, Rohini or Dwarka goes to the Commercial Appellate Division of the Delhi High Court. A judgment of a single judge of the High Court's Commercial Division goes to a Division Bench of the same High Court. In both cases the appeal is heard in the High Court building at Sher Shah Road.
Decrees of commercial courts outside Delhi go to their own High Courts. A Gurugram commercial court's decree is appealed to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and a decree from Gautam Buddh Nagar or Ghaziabad to the Allahabad High Court, even if one party's office is in Delhi. The place where the trial court sat decides the appellate court, not the address of the parties.
If your dispute was below the specified value of Rs 3 lakh, or was not a commercial dispute at all, the suit was an ordinary civil suit and the appeal is an ordinary first appeal under Section 96 CPC, with the 90-day period. Our page on civil appeals in the Delhi High Court covers that route. Getting the classification wrong can mean filing in the wrong format, and sometimes outside the shorter limit.
How a commercial appeal is filed and heard in the Delhi High Court
Fix the deadline
Note the date of pronouncement and count 60 days. If that date is close, the appeal can be filed with a downloaded copy and an exemption application rather than waiting for the certified copy.
Check appealability
Confirm that the decree or order falls under Section 13 and, for an order, that it is listed in Order XLIII or Section 37. If it is not, consider Article 227 or keeping the point for the final appeal.
Draft the memorandum of appeal
The grounds are framed precisely, with references to the pleadings, evidence and findings under challenge. A short synopsis and list of dates go at the front, as the Delhi High Court expects.
Prepare the paper book and court fee
The paper book includes the impugned judgment, the decree sheet, pleadings, key evidence and earlier orders. Court fee for an appeal against a money decree is generally ad valorem on the amount in dispute; check the current schedule.
File the stay and other applications
Applications for stay of execution, condonation of delay if any, and exemption from filing certified copies are filed with the appeal, and the respondent's counsel or caveator is served in advance.
Admission and interim hearing
On the first listing the bench decides whether to issue notice, call for the trial court record and grant a stay, often on terms of deposit or security.
Final hearing
After pleadings in applications are complete, the appeal is heard on the record. The bench may allow, dismiss, modify the decree or send the case back to the trial court on specific issues.
Time and cost at each stage (typical ranges, not promises)
| Stage | Typical time | Cost in general terms |
|---|---|---|
| Limitation for filing | 60 days from the judgment or order | No fee |
| Drafting and filing | 1 to 3 weeks after instructions, faster if the deadline is close | Court fee on the appeal; ad valorem for money decrees; check the current schedule |
| Clearing Registry objections and first listing | 1 to 3 weeks from filing | No further court fee |
| Stay hearing | At the first or second listing | Deposit or security of the decretal amount if the court so orders |
| Appeal against an interim injunction | Often decided within weeks to a few months | Fixed court fee for appeals against orders; check the current court fee |
| Final hearing of an appeal against a decree | The Act aims at six months; in practice several months to a year or more | Costs of preparing the record; the court may award costs at the end |
| Special leave petition to the Supreme Court | Within 90 days of the High Court's judgment | Supreme Court fees and an Advocate-on-Record's filing |
Documents needed for a commercial appeal
From the trial court
- Judgment and decree sheet, or the impugned order
- Plaint, written statement and replication
- Issues framed and the evidence affidavits
- Cross-examination transcripts and exhibited documents
- Order sheets showing the course of the case
Commercial papers
- The contract, purchase orders or work orders
- Invoices, ledgers and statements of account
- Correspondence and legal notices
- Section 12A mediation non-starter report, if any
For the appeal
- Board resolution or authority letter authorising the appeal
- Vakalatnama signed by the authorised signatory
- Proof of any deposit or bank guarantee offered
- Execution papers, if execution has begun
A made-up example: the Mayapuri parts supplier
Here's a made-up example. A Mayapuri company supplies brake components to a vehicle assembler in Haryana. The buyer sues in a Delhi district commercial court, claiming Rs 1.4 crore for defective goods and lost orders, and wins a decree after trial. The judgment is pronounced on 3 March. The supplier's managing director learns of it from the old lawyer two weeks later and asks for a second opinion in April.
The new lawyer counts the days first: the 60th day falls on 2 May. The appeal is filed on 24 April as an RFA(COMM) with a downloaded copy of the judgment and an exemption application. The main grounds are that the trial court ignored the inspection clause under which the buyer had accepted the goods, and that the loss of orders was never proved by any document.
Meanwhile the buyer has filed execution. At the first hearing, the Division Bench issues notice, calls for the trial court record and stays execution on condition that the supplier deposits Rs 50 lakh and gives a bank guarantee for the rest within four weeks. The supplier complies. The appeal is heard some months later, and the bench sets aside the part of the decree for lost orders while upholding the refund for a smaller batch of goods that had failed testing.
Had the supplier waited for a certified copy, and filed in mid-May with a delay application blaming the old lawyer, the appeal might never have been heard on its merits.
For the appellant and for the respondent
The appellant carries the burden. The grounds must show a specific error: a wrong reading of the contract, a finding without evidence, a defence that was pleaded and ignored, or a wrong legal test. General grounds that the judgment is 'against the weight of evidence' do not persuade a bench reading hundreds of pages of record.
The respondent who won should file a caveat in the High Court soon after the judgment, so that no stay is granted without notice. Our guide on what a caveat is explains how. Once the appeal is served, the respondent may file cross-objections under Order XLI Rule 22 against parts of the decree it lost, within the time the rule allows from service of notice of the hearing date.
A decree holder also need not wait for the appeal to pursue execution. Unless a stay is granted, execution proceeds. Where a deposit is ordered, the decree holder can ask the court to release it against security, which is often the practical way to get money in hand while the appeal is pending.
Mistakes in commercial appeals
- Counting from the certified copy. Treating the 60 days as starting when the certified copy arrives is the commonest route to a dismissed appeal.
- Appealing a non-appealable order. An appeal against an order refusing amendment or closing the right to file a written statement is likely to be dismissed as not maintainable, wasting weeks.
- Filing an LPA after a commercial appeal is lost. Section 13(2) bars it, and the time spent can eat into the 90 days for a special leave petition.
- No stay application, or a late one. The decree holder executes while the appellant waits for the first hearing.
- Offering a deposit the company cannot make. If the condition is not met, the stay falls away and the court notes the default.
- Leaving out the record. An appeal paper book without the evidence and exhibits that support the grounds leads to adjournments for the trial court record.
After the Commercial Appellate Division decides
The judgment of the Commercial Appellate Division can be challenged only by a special leave petition under Article 136 in the Supreme Court, generally within 90 days. Leave is discretionary and is granted in a small share of cases, usually where a question of law of wider importance arises or there is a clear miscarriage of justice. Our guide on going to the Supreme Court against a Delhi High Court judgment explains that step.
A review petition under Order XLVII lies to the same bench for an error apparent on the face of the record or new evidence that could not be produced earlier with due diligence. It is not a second appeal. If the appeal is dismissed, any stay ends and execution resumes, so deposits made in the High Court are usually released to the decree holder unless the Supreme Court orders otherwise.
When an appeal is the wrong choice
Not every loss should be appealed. An appeal against concurrent findings of fact, based on witnesses the trial judge believed, rarely succeeds, and the deposit needed for a stay may lock up working capital for a year or more. Where the decree is modest compared to the deposit and the costs, a negotiated settlement in execution, or mediation through the High Court's mediation centre, may serve a business better.
An appeal is also the wrong tool where the real problem is an ex parte decree. If you were not served or had sufficient cause for not appearing, an application under Order IX Rule 13 before the trial court is the first remedy, and an order refusing it is itself appealable under Order XLIII. Choosing the right route at the start saves a round of litigation.
What to do this week
Get the judgment and decree, write down the date of pronouncement, and count 60 days. Collect the full trial court file: pleadings, evidence, exhibits and order sheets. If you are the judgment debtor, work out what you could deposit or secure, and check whether execution has been filed.
If you won, file a caveat in the High Court and keep your trial court file ready for the respondent's paper book. Either way, decide quickly whether the order is appealable. The service page on commercial appeals in the Delhi High Court explains how the firm takes on these appeals.
Advice on your commercial appeal
A commercial appeal under Section 13 is a short-limitation, record-heavy remedy, and most of its outcome is decided in the first three weeks: whether it is filed in time, whether the order is appealable and whether a realistic stay is sought. Our page on appeals to the Commercial Appellate Division sets out the work involved.
For advice on your judgment, decree or interim order, or for updates on the law on commercial appeals, contact Advocate B.K. Singh.
Frequently asked questions
What is the limitation period for a commercial appeal in Delhi?
Sixty days from the date of the judgment or order, under Section 13(1A) of the Commercial Courts Act. Delay can be condoned under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, but the Supreme Court has said this should be done only by way of exception, for short and well-explained delays.
Can I appeal an order refusing to take my written statement on record?
Generally no, because that order is not listed in Order XLIII CPC. Against a district commercial court, an Article 227 petition may be considered, and otherwise the point can be raised in the appeal against the final decree.
Is a Letters Patent appeal available against a commercial appeal judgment?
No. Section 13(2) of the Commercial Courts Act excludes appeals under the Letters Patent, as the Supreme Court held in Kandla Export Corporation (2018). The remedy is a special leave petition to the Supreme Court.
Do I have to deposit the decree amount to file a commercial appeal?
Not to file it, but usually to get a stay of a money decree. The Delhi High Court commonly asks for deposit of the decretal amount or a substantial part, or a bank guarantee, as a condition of stay under Order XLI Rule 5.
Can I appeal if my plaint was rejected by a commercial court?
Yes. The Supreme Court held in November 2025 that rejection of a plaint under Order VII Rule 11 is a decree and is appealable under Section 13(1A). An order refusing to reject a plaint is not appealable.
Where do I appeal a Gurugram commercial court decree?
To the Punjab and Haryana High Court, because appeals follow the court that passed the decree. The Delhi High Court hears appeals only from Delhi's commercial courts and its own Commercial Division.
How long does a commercial appeal take in the Delhi High Court?
Appeals against interim orders are often decided within weeks or a few months. Appeals against final decrees take several months to a year or more, though Section 14 asks the court to aim for six months.
Is a Section 37 arbitration appeal a commercial appeal?
Yes, where the arbitration concerns a commercial dispute of the specified value, the appeal lies to the Commercial Appellate Division under Section 13(1A) within 60 days. Section 37 lists the orders that can be appealed, and no second appeal is allowed.
Advocate B.K. Singh
Founder of B.K. Singh & Associates. MCA, LL.B., LL.M. More than twenty years in practice before the Supreme Court, the Delhi High Court, Delhi district courts and tribunals. This guide was written and reviewed by his team.
This guide explains the law in general terms and is not legal advice. For advice on your own papers, contact the team.
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