R U L I N G
MARFUL-SAU, JA:- On the 4th of September, 2016, the plaintiff/ respondent (hereinafter referred to as the respondent) filed a notice of intention to rely on a preliminary objection at the hearing of this appeal pursuant to rule 16 of the Court of Appeal Rules, CI 19. Following the said notice, Counsel for the respondent on 16th January 2017, filed a statement of case in support of the preliminary objection. The main ground of the preliminary objection is that the appeal before this court is void since it was filed out of time. According to Counsel for respondent the default judgment appealed against was entered by the trial High Court on the 5th of December 2012 and the notice of appeal was filed on the 10th of April 2013. Counsel for respondent argued that the notice of appeal was incompetent since it violated rule 9 of the Court of Appeal Rules, CI 19, which provides a time limit of three months for the filing of appeals, unless such time is extended by the court below …