Wakilii

International Medical Link and Others v Equity Bank (U) Limited (Miscellaneous Application No. 2177 of 2024)

High Court · [2025] UGCOMMC 99 · 2025 Application Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for unconditional leave to appear and defend a summary suit for recovery of loan debt
Decision
Applicants granted unconditional leave to appear and defend the underlying summary suit

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

Citator coverage is limited to judgments in the Wakilii corpus and source-matched treatment records. Absence of a signal is not an assertion that the case remains good law.

AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions—always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

The court granted the applicants unconditional leave to appear and defend a summary suit for recovery of loan debt. The applicants demonstrated a bona fide triable issue by disputing the amount claimed by the respondent bank, which required taking an account to determine the correct status of the loan obligations. The court held that where there is a dispute as to the amount claimed requiring an account, unconditional leave must be granted under Order 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules.

Outcome

Applicants granted unconditional leave to appear and defend the underlying summary suit

Facts

The respondent bank filed a summary suit against the applicants seeking recovery of UGX 4,146,128,481.53 being the outstanding balance on loan facilities extended to the first applicant, with the second and third applicants having provided continuing and personal guarantees. The respondent claimed the applicants failed to repay the loan debt in breach of the loan agreement. The applicants disputed the amount claimed and sought leave to appear and defend the suit, arguing that the correct status of their loan obligations required taking an account.

Issues

  1. Whether the applicants have disclosed a triable issue of fact or law thereby entitling them to a grant of leave to appear and defend Civil Suit No. 1117 of 2024.

Orders

  • The applicant is granted leave to appear and defend Civil Suit No. 1117 of 2024.
  • The applicant shall file their defence and serve it on the respondent/plaintiff within fourteen days from the date of this ruling.
  • The costs of this application will abide the results of the suit.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Summary Suits — Leave to Appear and Defend — Test for Grant of Leave
For an applicant to be granted leave to appear and defend a summary suit, the applicant must show that there is a bona fide triable issue of fact or law that he or she will advance in defence of the suit. The defendant is not bound to show a good defence on the merits but should satisfy the court that there is an issue or question in dispute which ought to be tried.
Civil Procedure — Summary Suits — Unconditional Leave — Grounds for Grant
Unconditional leave to appear and defend a summary suit will be granted where the applicant shows that he or she has a good defence on the merits, or that a difficult point of law is involved, or that there is a dispute which ought to be tried, or a real dispute as to the amount claimed which requires taking an account to determine, or any other circumstances showing reasonable grounds of a bona fide defence.
Banking & Finance — Loan Recovery — Disputed Amount — Requirement for Taking Account
Where a defendant disputes the amount claimed by a bank in a loan recovery suit and demonstrates that taking an account is necessary to determine the correct status of loan obligations, this constitutes a triable issue entitling the defendant to unconditional leave to appear and defend.

Legislation cited (5)

Cases cited (4)

  • M.M.K Engineering v Mantrust Uganda Ltd (Miscellaneous Application No. 128 of 2012)
  • Bhaker Kotecha v Adam Muhammed [2002] 1 EA 112
  • Maluku Interglobal Trade Agency v Bank of Uganda [1985] HCB 65
  • Makula Interglobal Trade Agency v Bank of Uganda [1985] HCB 65

Full judgment

↓ Download PDF

The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

International Medical Link and Others v Equity Bank (U) Limited (Miscellaneous Application No. 2177 of 2024) [2025] UGCommC 99 (23 May 2025)
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.