Kinds of Appeal: Appeals can be divided into following four
classes according to the provisions of the Code of Civil procedure.
1. Appeals from original decrees(First Appeal)
2. Appeals from appellate decrees (Second Appeals),
3. Appeals from Orders, and
4. Appeals to the Supreme Court.
1. Appeal from Original Decree
Section 96 of the Code provides that the first way of challenging
the decree, passed by a court exercising the original jurisdiction, is
by filing an appeal in the court "authorized to hear appeals' from
the decisions of such court. It also provides that, an appeal may lie
from an original decree passed ex parte. i.c., without hearing the
other party. No appeal will lie from a decree passed by the Court
with the consent of parties.
This kind of appeal is also known as "the first appeal'. It is
permissible for the appellate court to re-examine and re-appreciate
the evidence, in the first appeal. The right to institute the suit is an
inherent right, but the right of appeal is statutory. (Baldev Singh
v. Surendra Mohan Sharma, AIR 2003 SC 225).
2. Appeals from Appellate Decrees/Second Appeal
Section 100-103 and 108 of CPC deals with the second appeal.
This part of the code contains provisions relating to appeal from
'appellate decrees' unlike from original decree. As the word 'second
appeal' clearly denotes, it is an appeal filed against the order of an
appellate court. Second here denotes the number of appeals, in
laymen terminology. Section 100 provides that an appeal shall lie
to the High Court from every decree passed in appeal by any Court
subordinate to the High Court if the High Court is satisfied that the
case involves a substantial question of law. It must be noted that
second appeal only lies on the substantial question of law, not on
the question of facts.
In State Bank of India & Ors. v. S.N. Goyal, AIR 2008 SC
2594, the Supreme Court explained the term 'substantial question
of law, by observing that, "The word 'substantial' prefixed to
'question of law does not refer to the stakes involved in the case,
nor intended to refer only to questions of law of general
importance, but refers to impact or effect of the question of law on
the decision in the lies between the parties."
“Substantial question of law” means not only substantial
questions of law of general importance but also the substantial
question of law arising in a case as between the parties. Any
question of law which affects the final decision in a case is a
substantial question of law as between the parties. A question of
law which arises incidentally or collaterally, having no bearing on
the final outcome, will not be a substantial question of law,"
The jurisdiction of the High Court is now confined to entertain only
such appeals as involve a substantial question of law set out in the
memorandum of appeal and formulated by the High Court.
3. Appeals from Orders:
It is a general rule created under the Code that only decrees are
appealable and orders are non-appealable. However, there can be
circumstances where an order can largely affect the rights of the
parties to a suit and therefore, Section 104 was enacted to provide
a list of orders from which an appeal lies.
4. Appeals to the Supreme Court:
Article 132 provides for an appeal to the Supreme Court of any
judgement, order or decree from civil or criminal cases or any
other proceedings. Supreme Court is the topmost forum in the
hierarchy of the Court. It is primarily the Court of appeal. It is the
highest forum for appeal in the country. The power of appellate
jurisdiction is given to the Supreme Court, by the Indian
Constitution under Article 132, 133, 134, 134A.
