( 1 ) THIS Suit was filed by the plaintiff-Bank for recovery of money against the. defendants, who are five in numbers, in the year 1985. The defendants 1,2 and 5 after service of summons, did not appear and were proceeded ex parte. The defendants 3 and 4 although appeared initially and contested the Suit, stopped appearing after a particular period. They were also proceeded ex-parte and ex-parte decree was passed on 3/10/1997. However, the plaintiff has not been able to enjoy the fruits of this decree and even after 16 years of the filing of the Suit the matter is kept alive by the defendants 3 and 4 (hereinafter referred to as the applicants, for short) as the present application has been filed under the provisions of order IX Rule 13 of the Code of Civil Procedure for setting aside the ex-parte decree dated 3/10/1997. Obviously, the question to be determined in this application is as to whether there is sufficient cause for non-appearance of the applicants in the Suit proceedings. The plea in support of sufficient cause raised by the applicants is the one which is often taken, namely, fault on the part of their advocate and it is contended that the applicants should n