The present invention discloses a horizontal multi-stage distillation system. The system comprises a feed stream, a distillate stream, a residue stream, a group of vessels, a plurality of vapor non-return valves (NRVs), a plurality of plurality of pumps, a plurality of liquid recycle NRVs, a liquid stream, a vapor stream, a plurality of liquid recycle streams, a plurality of level transmitters, a plurality of flow control valves (FCVs) and a plurality of liquid non-return valves (NRVs). Each vessel is connected to the adjacent vessel. The group of vessels comprises a condenser vessel, a reboiler vessel, a feed vessel, at-least one rectification vessel and at-least one stripping vessel. The present invention provides a horizontal multi-stage distillation system with higher efficiency and operational flexibility compared with equivalent vertical distillation columns. The present invention also avoids the interstage backflow of the liquid and vapors.