In Brief
A bank sought to recover dues against a company and its guarantor through the Debts Recovery Tribunal. The guarantor was served with summons but mistakenly believed the proceedings concerned only her personal loan, not the company's loan for which she had allegedly guaranteed. The Tribunal passed an ex parte decree against her. Years later, upon seeing the Recovery Certificate published publicly, she learned the true nature of the case and filed an application to set aside the ex parte decree, seeking condonation of delay (62 days from when she discovered the decree). The Supreme Court upheld the Appellate Tribunal's order, holding that her genuine misunderstanding of the proceedings constituted sufficient cause for delay, and that her serious contention of never having executed the guarantee document entitled her to a hearing on merits, irrespective of delay."
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