Setting aside an ex parte decree:
how long do you have?
Last reviewed: 2026-08-19 · quoted from the India Code bare-Act PDF
The date of the decree or where the summons or notice was not duly served, when the applicant had knowledge of the decree.
The Schedule row, as the Act prints it
Article 123Description: To set aside a decree passed ex parte or to rehear an appeal decreed or heard ex parte. Explanation.—For the purpose of this article, substituted service under rule 20 of Order V of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908) shall not be deemed to be due service.
Period: Thirty days.
Time from which period begins to run: The date of the decree or where the summons or notice was not duly served, when the applicant had knowledge of the decree.
Open the bare Act on India Code →
In plain English
A defendant decreed ex parte has thirty days — from the decree if summons was duly served, or from the date of KNOWLEDGE of the decree if it was not. Crucially, the Explanation says newspaper/affixture substituted service under Order V Rule 20 does not count as due service for this article, which frequently saves defendants who genuinely never knew of the case.
Where this comes up
- Defendant discovers an ex parte decree only when execution notice arrives
- Summons served at an old address; decree learned of months later
- Decree passed after substituted service by newspaper publication
What can reset or extend this period
General rules for entries in the Applications division. The full statutory quotes (ss.5, 12, 18-19, 6-8) are on the finder page.
Condonation — with a hard carve-out
Section 5 lets a late application be admitted on sufficient cause, EXCEPT applications under Order XXI CPC (execution). A late execution application under Article 136, or a late application to set aside an execution sale under Article 127, cannot be condoned at all.
Computation exclusions
s.12(1) excludes the first day; s.12(2) excludes pronouncement day and certified-copy time for applications for leave to appeal, revision or review; s.12(4) excludes award-copy time for set-aside applications; s.4 saves filings that fall due while the court is closed; s.14-15 and s.17 exclusions can also apply.
Acknowledgment — but not for execution
s.18's fresh-period rule covers suits and applications 'in respect of any property or right', but its Explanation (c) expressly excludes applications for the execution of decrees from its benefit.
Legal disability
ss.6-8 extend time for a person under legal disability for suits and execution applications, subject to s.8's three-year post-cessation ceiling.
Frequently asked
I was never actually served — does time still run from the decree date?
No. Where the summons or notice was not duly served, the thirty days run from when you had knowledge of the decree — and substituted service under Order V Rule 20 is expressly deemed NOT to be due service for this article.
Can delay beyond thirty days be condoned?
Yes — this is an application, so s.5 applies on sufficient cause. You can also, in the alternative, appeal against the ex parte decree.
This is a reference to the statutory text, not advice on a live matter. Limitation is brutally fact-sensitive — when the cause of action accrued, whether an acknowledgment or part-payment reset the clock, and which exclusions under ss.4-15 apply all turn on your specific facts. This page is a reference to the statutory text, not advice on a live matter, and it does not create an advocate-client relationship. A single day's error can be fatal to a claim: s.5 condonation never applies to suits, and several special-statute deadlines (Arbitration s.34(3), IBC s.61(2)) are hard ceilings no court can extend. Verify every period against the bare Act as currently amended and against current case law, and take advice on your own facts before acting. Provisions here were reviewed on 19 August 2026.