VAIDYA, j. :- The above first appeals raise an important question of the liability of a medical consultant of a company in tort. They are directed against the judgment and decree passed by the Joint Civil Judge, Senior Division, Poona, on April 30, 1965, ordering defendant No. 1, Philips India Ltd., and defendant No. 2, Dr. Shaikh Suleman, a medical practitioner of Poona, to pay to the plaintiff-respondent No. 1, Kunju Punnu, the mother of the deceased employee of defendant No. 1, Rs. 18,000/- together with costs of the suit and future interest on that amount at the rate of 6 per cent per annum till satisfaction.

2. The allegations made in the plaint presented in forma pauperis by Kunju Punnu on July 11, 1962 and registered as Special Civil Suit No. 31 of 1963, can be briefly summarised as under :-

3. The plaintiff's son, V. K. Gopal, was an employee of defendant No. 1 company on a monthly salary of Rs. 105/- as a machine operator. Defendant No. 2 is the Medical Officer and Adviser of defendant No. 1 company. Defendant No. 2, as the Medical Officer of the company, had to treat the patients of defendant No. 1 company free of charge. On December 20, 1961, the plaintiff's son,