Civil appeals:
how long do you have?
Last reviewed: 2026-08-19 · quoted from the India Code bare-Act PDF
The date of the decree or order.
The Schedule row, as the Act prints it
Article 116Description: Under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908)—(a) to a High Court from any decree or order; (b) to any other court from any decree or order.
Period: (a) Ninety days; (b) Thirty days.
Time from which period begins to run: The date of the decree or order.
Open the bare Act on India Code →
In plain English
The everyday civil appeal windows: ninety days to a High Court, thirty days to any other appellate court (e.g. District Court), both from the date of the decree or order. In practice s.12(2)-(3) extends this by excluding the pronouncement day and the time requisite for obtaining certified copies, and s.5 condonation is available on sufficient cause.
Where this comes up
- First appeal to the High Court from a civil court decree
- Appeal to the District Court from a Munsif/Civil Judge decree
- Miscellaneous appeal from an interim order
What can reset or extend this period
General rules for entries in the Appeals division. The full statutory quotes (ss.5, 12, 18-19, 6-8) are on the finder page.
Condonation is available
Section 5 lets the court admit a late appeal on 'sufficient cause' shown for the delay. The Explanation adds that being misled by any order, practice or judgment of the High Court in computing the period may itself be sufficient cause.
Certified-copy time is excluded
s.12(2) excludes the day the judgment was pronounced and the 'time requisite for obtaining a copy of the decree, sentence or order' appealed from; s.12(3) adds the time for a copy of the judgment. Time the court took to prepare the decree before you applied for a copy is NOT excluded.
No disability relief for appeals
Section 6 covers only suits and applications for the execution of decrees — not appeals. A late appeal rests on s.5 sufficient cause, not on ss.6-8.
Frequently asked
Does time run even before I get the certified copy?
Time runs from the decree/order date, but s.12(2) excludes the day of pronouncement and the 'time requisite for obtaining a copy of the decree, sentence or order' — so days spent waiting for the certified copy after applying do not count.
What if I miss the ninety days?
File with an application under s.5 showing sufficient cause for each day of delay; condonation for appeals is discretionary but routinely granted for genuinely explained delays.
Do commercial disputes follow Article 116?
Appeals under the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 follow that Act's own appeal period as a special law under s.29(2) — commonly cited as sixty days under s.13, though that figure is not verified here against the bare Act. Check the special statute before relying on the Schedule.
This is a reference to the statutory text, not advice on a live matter. Limitation is brutally fact-sensitive — when the cause of action accrued, whether an acknowledgment or part-payment reset the clock, and which exclusions under ss.4-15 apply all turn on your specific facts. This page is a reference to the statutory text, not advice on a live matter, and it does not create an advocate-client relationship. A single day's error can be fatal to a claim: s.5 condonation never applies to suits, and several special-statute deadlines (Arbitration s.34(3), IBC s.61(2)) are hard ceilings no court can extend. Verify every period against the bare Act as currently amended and against current case law, and take advice on your own facts before acting. Provisions here were reviewed on 19 August 2026.