[2017] KEHC 2703 (KLR)

[2017] KEHC 2703 (KLR)

The court found that the applicant's advocate, N. O. Sumba & Company Advocates, was never served with a hearing notice or other court process after filing a notice of appointment. There was no evidence of service on the advocate or the applicant. As a result, the judgment entered against the applicant was irregular...

Source-derived case information.

Citation
[2017] KEHC 2703 (KLR)
Parties
Plaintiff: Sokhi International (K) Ltd; Plaintiff: Vijay Kumar Singh; Plaintiff: Labh Singh Sokhi; Plaintiff: Rajeev Parma; Plaintiff: Raju Narendranathan Vetilyatil; Plaintiff: Ashish Kumar Samantha; Plaintiff: Chander Bhan Singh; Plaintiff: Mumtaz Mughal; Defendant: Equatorial Commercial Bank; Defendant: Kereto Marima; Defendant: Ian Small; Defendant: Harpal Singh Sokhi
Court
High Court
Court Station
High Court at Kisumu
Jurisdiction
Kenya
Judgment Date
30 October 2017
Case Number
Civil Suit 52 of 2011
Procedural Posture
Civil Suit / Ruling on Application to Set Aside Judgment
Outcome
application to set aside judgment allowed; entire judgment set aside; no order as to costs
Judges
DAS Majanja
Legal Topics
Setting Aside Judgment, Service of Process, Guarantee Liability, Joint and Several Liability
Source Language
english
Civil Procedure Commercial and Corporate Setting Aside Judgment Service of Process Guarantee Liability Joint and Several Liability

Source-derived case record

Summary, issues, holding and outcome

More case intelligence is available

Unlock the full research layer for this judgment.

Full judgment text Downloadable case file Legal principles 2 Authorities cited 2 Party arguments 2 Amounts and remedies 1
Sign in to unlock

Parties

Sokhi International (K) Ltd

Plaintiff

Vijay Kumar Singh

Plaintiff

Labh Singh Sokhi

Plaintiff

Rajeev Parma

Plaintiff

Raju Narendranathan Vetilyatil

Plaintiff

Ashish Kumar Samantha

Plaintiff

Chander Bhan Singh

Plaintiff

Mumtaz Mughal

Plaintiff

Equatorial Commercial Bank

Defendant

Kereto Marima

Defendant

Ian Small

Defendant

Harpal Singh Sokhi

Defendant

Procedural Posture

Civil Suit / Ruling on Application to Set Aside Judgment

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the applicant's advocate was properly served with court process prior to judgment.
  2. 2 Whether failure to serve the applicant or his advocate entitles the applicant to have the judgment set aside ex debito justiciae.
  3. 3 Whether the entire judgment should be set aside or only as against the applicant.

Ratio Decidendi

The court found that the applicant's advocate, N. O. Sumba & Company Advocates, was never served with a hearing notice or other court process after filing a notice of appointment. There was no evidence of service on the advocate or the applicant. As a result, the judgment entered against the applicant was irregular and must be set aside as a matter of right (ex debito justiciae). Furthermore, because the underlying transactions and liabilities were joint, several, and indivisible, and the judgment was entered jointly and severally against multiple parties, the interests of justice required that the entire judgment be set aside to allow the court to properly assess liability against each...

Court Disposition

application to set aside judgment allowed; entire judgment set aside; no order as to costs

Orders

  • The entire judgment delivered on 18th May 2017 is set aside.
  • No order as to costs.