Wakilii

Kavule Investiment Ltd & Anor v Tropical Bank Ltd (Miscellaneous Civil Application No. 221 of 2018)

High Court · [2020] UGCOMMC 31 · 2020 Application Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application to set aside dismissal of an earlier application for leave to appear and defend in a summary suit
Decision
Earlier application reinstated for hearing on merit; default judgment set aside

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The court set aside the dismissal of the earlier application for leave to appear and defend, finding sufficient cause for non-appearance. The applicants were not notified of the hearing date, the matter did not appear on the cause list, and they exhibited vigilance by bringing the reinstatement application without delay. The court found the applicants raised a prima facie defence involving allegations of fraud, illegality, coercion, misrepresentation and undue influence. Default judgment and decree in the main suit were also set aside.

Outcome

Earlier application reinstated for hearing on merit; default judgment set aside

Facts

The applicants filed M.A No. 1033 of 2019 seeking leave to appear and defend a summary suit by Tropical Bank claiming recovery of outstanding credit facilities. The applicants and their counsel regularly checked the registry from November 2019 but were repeatedly told the matter was not fixed. On 9 March 2020, the application was called for hearing without the applicants having been notified and without the matter appearing on the cause list. The application was dismissed for non-appearance. The applicants discovered the dismissal on the same day and immediately filed the present application to set aside the dismissal. Default judgment had been entered in the main suit following dismissal of the application for leave to defend.

Issues

  1. Whether the application discloses any grounds for setting aside dismissal of M.A No. 1033 of 2019, setting aside the default judgment in Civil Suit No. 815 of 2019 and reinstatement of the dismissed application

Orders

  • The Order dismissing High Court Misc. Application No. 1033 of 2019 is set aside and the said application is reinstated for hearing on merit.
  • The default judgment and decree entered in Civil Suit No. 815 of 2019 are set aside.
  • Any execution of the said decree is stayed and/or set aside.
  • The costs of the application shall be in the cause.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Setting aside dismissal — Sufficient cause — Notice of hearing
Where an application is dismissed for non-appearance under Order 9 Rule 22 of the Civil Procedure Rules, the court should not rely solely on perceived lack of interest or failure to follow up. Where an applicant shows they were unaware of the hearing date, such claim must be considered. A period of three and a half months before fixing does not suffice under law to justify dismissal without notice to the applicant.
Civil Procedure — Setting aside dismissal — Sufficient cause — Test for reinstatement
For sufficient cause to be disclosed under Order 9 Rule 23 CPR, the court must be satisfied that the applicant had a reasonable excuse for failing to appear and that there is merit in the defence to the case. The test is whether the applicant honestly intended to attend the hearing and did their best to do so, considering also the nature of the case and whether there is a prima facie defence.
Civil Procedure — Evidence — Court cause list — Authentication
A copy of the court cause list downloaded from the Judiciary website is public information that applicants may rely upon without permission of the court or endorsement. Its authenticity is verifiable from the Judiciary website itself.
Civil Procedure — Prima facie defence — Assessment at interlocutory stage
When determining whether an applicant has a plausible defence for purposes of reinstatement under Order 9 Rule 23, the court considers whether the facts raise a prima facie defence, not whether the defences will succeed on the merits. Questions of whether particular defences are properly raised go to the merits and are determined at the substantive hearing.

Legislation cited (7)

Cases cited (4)

  • Kyobe Senyange v Naks Ltd [1980] HCB 31
  • National Insurance Corporation v Mugenyi and Company Advocates [1987] HCB 28
  • Nakiride v Hotel International Ltd [1987] HCB 85
  • Twiga Chemical Industries v Bamusedde [2005] 2 EA 325

Full judgment

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

Kavule Investiment Ltd & Anor v Tropical Bank Ltd (Miscellaneous Civil Application No. 221 of 2018) [2020] UGCommC 31 (18 September 2020)
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.