Background- Depth of invasion (DOI) is an important factor in pre-treatment staging of tongue carcinoma according to AJCC 8th edition.The present study was planned with the aim of assessing the depth of invasion in tongue carcinoma. (HPE) DOI. The object of the study was to see the accuracy of the diffusion weighted imaging (DW-MRI) sequence over the conventiona lMRI compared with histopathology Methods- A total of 70 biopsy proven cases of squamous cell carcinoma of tongue patients, who received pre-treatment MRI including DWI sequence and surgical resection. The depth of invasion was estimated on T2 weighted fat saturated imaging (T2FS) and DWI MRI, measured by a perpendicular line between the reference line at basement membrane and maximum tumor thickness, then compared with the depth of invasion on the histopathology report. Data was collected and evaluated for T stage accuracy of conventional MRI & DWI MRI, then compared with histopathology using the Independent Chi-square test and correlation coefficient. Results- DOI derived from DW-MRI shows the best correlation (r = 0.983, p < 0.001) with pathological DOI compared to the T2FS MRI (r = 0.977, p < 0.001). T-staging efficacy was 81.4% and 72.8% on DW-MRI and T2FS MRI, respectively compared to pathological DOI. Conclusion- Both T2FS and DWI MRI showed a significant correlation, However DOI derived from DW-MRI was optimal and better than T2FS MRI, it could serve as a potential cut off for T-staging in tongue carcinoma.