An appeal is a rehearing of a decided matter by a higher court, on the record already made. It is not an opportunity to run a better case than the one that was run at trial. Understanding the sequence helps, because the steps that decide an appeal happen early, often in the first fortnight.
1. Read the judgment against the record. An appeal succeeds where the judgment misread a document, misapplied the law, granted something nobody asked for, ignored evidence on the record, or relied on material that was not evidence at all. The first exercise is therefore comparison, not drafting: judgment in one hand, pleadings and exhibits in the other. This is also the stage at which a client is sometimes told that the decree, though unwelcome, is unlikely to be disturbed.
2. Identify the right remedy. An appeal lies from a decree and from certain orders. A revision lies in a narrower class of cases. A review is asked of the same court that decided the matter, on limited grounds such as an error apparent on the face of the record. Filing the wrong one wastes the period of limitation that was available for the right one.
3. Check limitation immediately. Time runs from the date of the decree or order, not from the day you learn of it or the day you receive a copy. If the period has already expired, the delay has to be explained in an application for condonation, and that application is decided before the appeal is heard at all.
4. Obtain the certified copy. A certified copy of the judgment and decree is required to file, and applying for it early both saves time and, in the ordinary course, accounts for part of the period taken.
5. File the memorandum of appeal. The memorandum sets out the grounds, the specific errors said to vitiate the judgment, and is confined to the record. Grounds are stated precisely, because at the hearing the appeal is argued on them.
6. Apply for stay, if needed. Filing an appeal does not by itself suspend the decree. If money can be realised or possession taken while the appeal is pending, a separate application for stay is needed, and it is usually the most urgent step after filing.
7. Paper book, then hearing. The record is prepared and the appeal is listed. At the hearing the court has the judgment, the pleadings, the exhibits and the grounds, and considers whether the findings can stand. It may confirm, vary or set aside the decree, or remand the matter for rehearing on specified points.
This note describes the general sequence in civil appeals and simplifies deliberately; the procedure and the periods that apply depend on the court, the statute and the nature of the decree. It is not legal advice on any particular matter.