JUDGMENT

Ong J:

By consent of the parties the point of law raised by the plaintiff's reply in this action was set down for trial as a preliminary issue, pursuant to the provisions of O. 25 r. 2 of the Rules of the Supreme Court. The question for determination is whether the principle of estoppel per rem judicatam applies so that the defendant, against whom a default judgment had previously been entered for a sum alleged to be arrears of rent of machinery hired to him by the plaintiff as owner, is debarred in a subsequent action on the same hiring agreement from disputing the validity of the agreement and the plaintiff's claim for return of the machinery and further arrears of rent accrued since the previous judgment.

On 30 June 1954 Kuala Lumpur High Court Civil Suit No. 272 of 1954 was commenced by a summons in a summary suit for debt, under Chapter XXXIX of the former Civil Procedure Code. In para. 2 of the plaint it was stated that, under an agreement in writing dated 20 June 1952, the plaintiff let certain machinery and equipment on hire to the defendant for the term of 12 months at $2,500 per month; in para. 3, that on the expiry of the term of 12 months the hiring was contin