Lord Sinha:-

This is an appeal from a judgment and decree of the Court of the Judicial Commissioner of the Central Provinces, which reversed a judgment and decree of the Subordinate Judge of Damoh in a suit which was filed on the 11th December 1916, in order to enforce a mortgage executed by the defendant on the 5th March 1913.

The case has been tried under peculiarly unsatisfactory circumstances. The plaint was registered on the 2nd January 1917. No written statement was filed, but only oral statements of the pleaders on both sides recorded, and issues were framed on these. The evidence was heard from time to time and at long intervals, and appears to have taken altogether a period of nearly three years. Judgment was pronounced by a Subordinate Judge who had not hoard any of the witnesses except two, and even of these one had been partly examined by his pre-decessor-in-office. The result is that in a case which entirely depends upon questions of fact, neither of the Courts dealing with the case had the benefit of seeing the witnesses and had to appreciate the evidence recorded by another Judge. Under these circumstances their Lordships are unable to attach the same importance as the