Seagate Technology International v Vikas Goel [2016] SGHC 12 - Obtaining a Judgment on the Merits in Singapore for the Purpose of Enforcement Overseas
In Seagate Technology International v Vikas Goel [2016] SGHC 12 (“Seagate v Vikas ”), the defendant provided personal guarantees in favour of the plaintiff for banking facilities granted to the defendant’s company. The defendant’s company defaulted on the repayment of the banking facilities, and the plaintiff sought to enforce the guarantee by commencing action in the Singapore Courts. Although the plaintiff commenced action against the defendant, the defendant did not enter an appearance in the case. Instead of seeking to obtain a judgment in default of appearance, the plaintiff sought to obtain judgment on the merits of its case. This was because the plaintiff intended to enforce the judgment in India, and Indian law did not recognise for enforcement purposes a foreign judgment that is obtained by default. The court in Seagate v Vikas considered the facts of the case and took the position that the most appropriate course of action was to adduce evidence in the normal course of tr...