(COURT OF APPEAL) IBRAHIM AHMED GASIM vs. BAHIA NAGAR YAHIA (AC/REV/2/1 957) Revision Principles · Practice and procedure —- advocate’s mistake as to date of trial — default decree passed in absence of advocate — whether sufficient cause for setting decree aside. Sufficient cause for setting aside a default decree cannot be defined in advance, but depends on the facts of each particular case. Where an advocate fails to attend a hearing owing to a genuine mistake as to the date, a default decree can be set aside on payment of costs. Judgment The facts appear fully in the judgment of R.C. Soni J. Advocates: H. Riad for the applicant. Labib Sorial for the respondent. R.C. Soni j. This is an application for revision of the order of the Judge of the High Court, Khartoum (Hassib J.) in HC/Rev/169/1956, dated 19th. November 1956. This is a simple case in which the facts are not in dispute. At one of the hearings of the case before the trial Court, that Court adjourned the case for further hearing to 27 August1956. The defendants advocate by a mistake put down the date of the hearing as 28th. August instead of the 27th. When the defendant, accompanied by his advocate, attended the Court on the 28th. August, they were told that the hearing had been held on the previous day when a decree had been passed against the defendant in default of appearance. The (*) Court: M.A. Abu Rannat C.J. and R.C. Soni J. defendant’s advocate explained the position and offered to pay into Court the amount of the decree to prove his bona fides. The advocate for the plaintiff did not urge that the advocate for the defendant had not made a genuine mistake, but urged that the mistake did not afford sufficient cause to set aside the decree passed in default on 2 August. The trial Court accepted the plaintiff’s contention and refused to set aside the default decree. There was an appeal to a learned Judge of the High Court against this order refusing to set aside the decree. The learned judge concurred with the judge of the trial Court and dismissed the appeal. From that order an application for revision has been made to this Court. We are of opinion that the learned judges of the Courts below were wrong. Sufficient cause can never be defined, and every case has to be judged on its own particular facts. We must make allowance for human frailty. Every one of us is liable to make mistakes. Here the mistake of the advocate for the defendant was a genuine mistake. It is not urged that the advocate is making an untrue statement. The advocate produced his diary; both he and his client, the defendant, appeared on the 28th. August when they had thought the case was going to be heard. To show their bona fides the amount of the decree was deposited in Court. What more could be wanted ? The plaintiff does not suffer in any way. He cannot be heard to say that the defendant should not be allowed to put his case to the Court. The Courts are there for the purpose of administering justice. All rules of procedure should be so interpreted as to further the ends of justice, not to hinder them. We set aside the orders of the Courts below, and we set aside the default decree passed on 27th. August 1956, and remit the case to the trial Court to be tried on its merits. The plaintiff will have .E.2 costs for the inconvenience caused by the mistake of the defendant’s advocate. We understand that the amount of the decree has already been deposited in Court. It will remain there till the case is disposed of by the trial Court. There will be no order as to costs in this Court. M.A. Abu Rannat C.J. — I concur. Appeal Allowed