G.N.Prasad, J.

1. The petitioners are the plaintiffs of Title Suit No. 191 of 1964, in which an ex parte decree was passed in their favour on the 5th February, 1970. On the 29th May, 1970, the defendant first party applied under Order IX, Rule 13 of the Code of Civil Procedure for setting aside the ex parte decree on the ground that he was prevented by sufficient cause from appearing in court when the suit was called on for hearing on the relevant date. The sufficient cause thus propounded by the defendant was to the effect that he had been relying upon the defendant second party to give him the requisite information for taking requisite steps on the different dates in the suit, but the defendant second party went in collusion with the plaintiffs and did not inform the defendant that the suit was going to be taken up for hearing or that an ex parte decree had already been passed therein. The case of the defendant further was that on the 2nd May, 1970, he filed a petition for inspection of the records and the records were inspected on the 5th May, 1970, when the defendant learnt for the first time that an ex parte decree had already been passed in the suit on the 5th Februar