July 18, 2021 court of first instance - Orders
Claim No. CFI 025/2020
THE DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTRE COURTS
IN THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
BETWEEN
UNION BANK OF INDIA (DIFC BRANCH)
Claimant
and
(1) VELOCITY INDUSTRIES LLC
(2) VELOCITY VENTURE LTD
(3) UMAKU TRADE INVEST LIMITED
(4) VIJEY KAPOOR
(5) RAVI KUCHIMANCHI
(6) RAJENDER [RAJINDER] MAKHIJANI
(7) PARAG GUPTA
(8) DEVIKA [SWATI] MAKHIJANI
Defendants
CASE MANAGEMENT ORDER OF H.E. JUSTICE NASSIR AL NASSER
UPON reviewing the Court file
AND UPON reading the Case Management Bundle
AND UPON reviewing the Rules of the DIFC Courts (“RDC”)
AND UPON hearing Counsel for the Claimant, Counsel for the Fourth Defendant and Counsel for the Sixth to Eighth Defendants at the Case Management Conference held before H.E. Justice Nassir Al Nasser at 11.00am on 6 July 2021
AND UPON the agreement of the Claimant and the Defendants to the following case management directions and procedural timetable
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED BY CONSENT THAT:
Pleadings (RDC Parts 16 and 17)
1. The Fourth Defendant shall file and serve his Defence to the Sixth to Eighth Defendants’ additional claim by no later than 4pm on Thursday 15 July 2021.
2. The Sixth to Eighth Defendants shall file their Reply to the Fourth Defendant’s Defence by no later than 4pm Thursday 5 August 2021.
Agreed List of Issues
3. Adjacent to each paragraph of each witness statement, reply witness statement (if any) and skeleton argument shall be inserted the issue or issues to which that paragraph relates as numbered in the Agreed List of Issues, in order for the Court to understand to which of the agreed issues that paragraph relates.
Production of Documents (RDC Part 28)
4. Standard production of documents shall be made by each party by no later than 4pm on Thursday 19 August 2021.
5. The parties shall file and serve a Request to Produce, if any, by no later than 4pm on Thursday 2 September 2021, substantially in the form of a Redfern Schedule.
6. Objections to Requests to Produce, if any, shall be filed and served within 7 days thereafter and in any event by no later than 4pm on Thursday 9 September 2021.
7. Where objections to any Requests to Produce have been made, the Court shall determine those objections and shall make any disclosure order within the following 14 days and in any event by no later than 4pm on Thursday 23 September 2021.
8. The parties shall comply with the terms of any Disclosure Order and file a Document Production Statement within 7 days thereafter and in any event by no later than 4pm on Thursday 30 September 2021.
9. Where there are no objections to a particular Request contained in a Request to Produce, documents responsive to that request shall be produced within 7 days from the date of the Request to Produce, and in any event by no later than 4pm on Thursday 9 September 2021.
Witness Statements (RDC Part 29)
10. Signed statements of witnesses of fact, and hearsay notices where required by the RDC, shall be exchanged by no later than 4pm on Thursday 4 November 2021.
11. Any Witness Statement evidence in reply shall be filed and served within 21 days thereafter and in any event by no later than 4pm on Thursday 25 November 2021.
12. Unless otherwise ordered, Witness Statements shall stand as evidence in chief of the witness at trial.
Pre-Trial Review (RDC Part 26)
13. A pre-trial review shall be listed at 1pm on Thursday 16 December 2021, being within the normal range of 4 to 8 weeks before trial.
Trial Preparation
14. Agreed trial bundles shall be filed and served no later than 4 weeks before trial and in any event by no later than 4pm on Sunday 2 January 2021.
15. No later than 7 days before trial, the parties shall agree, and the Claimant shall file an:
i. agreed reading list for trial along with an estimate of time required for reading and an estimated timetable for trial;
ii. and agreed Chronology of significant events cross-referenced to significant documents, pleadings and witness statements. In the event that there are areas of disagreement on the Chronology, the Chronology shall include an agreed Chronology and a Chronology of events which are disputed, with the parties’ respective positions outlined therein.
16. Skeleton Arguments shall be filed and exchanged 7 days before the start of trial.
Trial
17. The trial of this matter shall be listed to commence at 1pm on Sunday 30 January 2022 to Thursday 3 February 2022, with an estimated duration of 4 days, with 1 day held in reserve.
Issued by:
Amna Al Owais
Chief Registrar
Date of issue: 18 July 2021
At: 9am
