October 13, 2026 Court of First Instance - Orders
Claim No: CFI 029/2025
THE DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTRE COURTS
IN THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
BETWEEN
(1) EFG (MIDDLE EAST) LTD
(2) EFG BANK LTD
Claimants
and
(1) MARJ HOLDING LIMITED
(2) ARJ HOLDING LIMITED
(3) MOHAMMAD AHMAD RAMADHAN JUMA
Defendants
ORDER WITH REASONS OF H.E. JUSTICE ROGER STEWART
UPON the Part 7 Claim Form dated 10 March 2025
AND UPON the Order with Reasons of H.E. Justice Roger Stewart dated 27 July 2026 (the “Order”)
AND UPON the Defendants’ Application No. CFI-029-2025/11 dated 18 August 2026 seeking an extension of time to file an Appeal Notice for permission to appeal the Order (the “EOT Application”)
AND UPON the Defendants’ Appeal Notice dated 19 August 2026 seeking permission to appeal the Order (the “PTA Application”)
AND UPON the Claimant’s Evidence in Answer dated 2 September 2026
AND UPON the Defendants’ Evidence in Reply dated 9 September 2026
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the EOT Application and the PTA Application be referred to the Court of Appeal pursuant to Rule 44.8 of the Rules of the DIFC Courts.
Issued by:
Delvin Sumo
Assistant Registrar
Date of issue: 13 October 2026
At: 10am
SCHEDULE OF REASONS
1. This is an application by the Defendants for permission to appeal and for an extension of time against the Order with Reasons dated 27 July 2026 (the “Order”), by which judgment was entered in favour of the Second Claimant against the First and Second Defendants for identified sums. An order has subsequently been made correcting some errors in the figures pursuant to Rule 36.41 of the Rules of the DIFC Courts (“RDC”).
2. The PTA Application was made a day late in circumstances which have been explained. Although the Defendants are not entirely devoid of fault, I would have been inclined to grant the EOT Application if I had considered that the proposed appeal had any real prospect of success.
3. Having reached the preliminary view that the proposed grounds of appeal do not raise any matters with a real prospect of success, I consider that the appropriate course is to refer the EOT Application and the PTA Application to the Court of Appeal pursuant to RDC 44.6. This is because there seems little purpose in setting out detailed reasons for my view in circumstances where it appears inevitable that the Defendants will issue a further application, as they are entitled to do, to the Court of Appeal. The reasons for having formed the view that it was appropriate to enter immediate judgment are already set out in my Order.
