Lord Thankerton:-

The appellant in these eighteen consolidated appeals is the Ruler of Limbdi State in Kathiawar. The respondents are the mulgametis and landholders in 18 villages of the Khadol Barwala Taluka in Dhanduka in British India, each of the appeals relating to one of the villages. The appellant, as plaintiff in the suits, in substance asks for a declaration that he, and not the defendants, is entitled to be registered as talukdar under the Gujrat Talukdars Act (Bom. Act 6 of 1888), as amended by Act 2 of 1905.

On 23rd April l928 the Subordinate Judge at Ahmedabad granted the appellant in each suit the declaration asked for. On appeal the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, by an order in each suit dated 9th October 1931, set aside the decrees of the Subordinate Judge and remanded the suits to allow the appellant an opportunity of joining the Government as a party to the claim as regards an agreement dated 12th August 1922, and his absolute ownership of the villages in question within this months, failing which the suits would be dismissed. The present appeals are taken against these orders, and in course of the hearing before the Board the respondents asked for and obtained