1. On December 19,1956, the Popular Bank Ltd. was ordered by the High Court of Kerala to be wound up. A liquidator of the bank was also appointed. In the winding up proceedings that followed on the application of the liquidator an order was made by a learned Single Judge of the High Court under S.478 of the Companies Act, 1956 and S.45G of the Banking Companies Act, 1949 directing the public examination of nine officers of the bank. Six appeals were filed by the officers concerned against that order to an appellate bench of the High Court and these appeals were allowed. The liquidator has filed the present six appeals against the orders of the appellate bench. There were several other persons against whom orders were sought by the liquidator in that application but with them we are not concerned in these appeals.

2. The application by the liquidator to the learned Single Judge on the face of it stated that it had been made under S.478, 531, 538, 539 and 541 to 545 of the Companies Act and S.45G, 45H and 451 of the Banking Companies Act. Various allegations of misfeasances and malfeasances were made against the nine officers in that application and in the end it was state