1. The petitioner is the Cochin Coal Company Ltd., a private company incorporated under the Indian Companies Act, 1913, and having its Registered Office at Fort Cochin in the Madras State. The activities of the company in so far as they relate to the controversy before us are summed up as follows in Para.4 and 6 of the affidavit filed in support of the petition:

"4. The petitioner company purchases coal from Calcutta through Messrs. Macheill and Barry Limited Calcutta who are the Managing Agents for various coal mining companies. The Coal Commissioner for India with his office in Calcutta allots quantities of coal for purchase by the Petitioner Company. The coal so purchased is taken to Cochin by ships and stacked at the Candle Island in Madras State.

6. The subject matter of the petition accompanying relates to sales of coal to steamers arriving and berthed in Travancore-Cochin State waters of the Cochin Harbour to be stored in the ships' bunkers and exported outside the territorial waters of Travancore-Cochin State for consumption on the High Seas."

and the course of dealing will be clear from the following extract from Para.7 to 10 of the said affidavit:

7. These steamer