1. These twelve appeals are by the defendants in O. S. Nos. 66, 62,124, 58, 59,125, 61, 121, 126, 122, 123 & 60 of 1955 on the file of the Principal Subordinate Judge of Kozhikode. The respondent in all these appeals is the State of Kerala. The suits were instituted by the State against the several defendants in the suits for the amounts specified in the plaints. The suits have been decreed.

2. The respondent in these appeals, the State of Kerala, alleged that the defendants in the various suits were appointed as their agents for the purchase of paddy, determined to be surplus to the requirements of producers in the delta area of West Godavari and Kistna Districts. In proof they relied on a notification dated 10-3-1948 issued by the Collector, West Godavari District,Ext. A-16. The schedule to Ext. A-16 mentioned the names of 22 such agents and the defendants in the suits mentioned above are 8, 9,11,13 to 11 and 20 to 22 mentioned in that schedule. A similar notification was issued by the Collector of Kistna District on 28 61948, and 8, 9,11,13 to 18, 20 & 21 mentioned in that notification are 11 of the twelve defendants in the various suits out of which these appeals ari