On 05-07-2017, Ch. Imran Hassan Ali represented the successful Appellant before the Supreme Court in an appeal against a judgment of the Lahore High Court.
The Respondent, M/s Lahore Poultry Services, had filed a suit against the Appellant, Dr. Mazhar Hussain Cheema, for recovery of money on the basis of a cheque issued in the course of business. The suit was filed under the special procedure provided in Order XXXVII of the Code of Civil Procedure. The suit was decreed ex parte in favour of the Respondent by the District Judge. The Appellant filed an application to set aside the ex parte judgment and decree. The District Judge allowed this application and granted the Appellant ten days to file an application for leave to defend the suit. The Appellant filed an application within this period. However, at this stage the Respondent raised an objection that the application for leave to defend had become time-barred as it had not been filed along with the application to set aside ex parte decree and within ten days of getting knowledge of the ex parte decree. The District Judge agreed and dismissed the application for leave to defend. Consequently, the suit was once again decreed in favour of the Respondent. The Appellant’s appeal to the Lahore High Court also failed.
Ch. Imran Hassan Ali represented the Appellant before the Supreme Court. The Respondent was represented by Senior Advocate and former High Court Judge, Syed Qalb-e-Hassan Shah.
After a very lengthy hearing, the Supreme Court granted leave to appeal. Eventually, on 05-07-2017, the appeal was also allowed and judgments of the High Court as well as the District Judge were set aside. The Supreme Court declared that the Appellant’s application for leave to appear and defend the suit had been validly filed and it was not time-barred. The case was then remanded to the District Judge for trial.