Acknowledgement should show payment.

These two appeals arise out of two suits filed originally in this Court on its Original Side (C.S. Nos. 103 and 183 of 1954) and subsequently transferred to the City Civil Court at Madras where they were numbered as O.S. Nos. 1456 and 1463 of 1955 respectively. Both the suits were tried together by the learned Additional Judge of the City Civil Court and decreed as prayed for. The first defendant in the two suits is the appellant in the two appeals before us. O.S. No. 1456 of 1955 is a suit to recover a sum of Rs. 26,798-4-7 alleged to be due for balance of principal and interest in respect of a promissory note executed on 1st March, 1951, by the first defendant, Ms. Wazir Sultan & Sons, a firm of merchants carrying on business at Hyderabad, in favour of the second defendant, Shyamala Industrial Corporation, Ltd., a private limited company, for Rs. 32,691-5-2 O.S. (that is, Hyderabad currency) and assigned by the second defendant to the plaintiff, Karlapaty Syamlamba, on 15th January, 1954. The following are the material allegations in the plaint. On 1st March, 1951, the defendants settled their accounts in respect of a partnership business carried on by them at Secunderabad and the second defendant retired from the partnership and released its rights therein in consideration of a sum of Rs. 32,691-5-2 agreed to be paid by the first defendant to the second defendant. For this sum the first defendant executed a promissory note agreeing to pay the sum with interest at 4 per cent. per annum. Towards the promissory note a sum of Rs. 2,691-5-2 (O.S.) was paid and there is a sum of Rs. 30,000 (O.S.) now due for principal, equivalent to Rs. 25,714-4-7 in Indian Currency and interest from 1st March, 1951, which comes to Rs. 1,084. On 19th February, 1954, the first defendant paid a sum of Rs. 2,000 by a cheque towards the promissory note. After giving credit for the said sum, an amount of Rs. 26,798-4-7 is due for principal and interest. The first defendant by partner Abdul Hameed Sultan filed a written statement in which the execution of the promissory note was admitted. The only plea was that in addition to the payments admitted by the plaintiff to have been received, the defendant made further payments of Rs. 5,000 (O.S.), Rs. 5,000 (O.S.) and Rs. 2,000 (Indian Currency) on 12th June, 1951, 21 st July, 1951 and 17th, October, 1951, respectively and therefore the first defendant is liable to pay only the amount that may be found due after giving credit to these payments. These payments were alleged to have been made to Mr. K. Appa Rao, Managing Director of the second defendant company. The first defendant complained that the said Appa Rao had for his own reasons unlawfully treated the said payments to other accounts on which no amount was due to him and had also filed another suit. The plaintiff was no other than the mother of the said Appa Rao and the plaintiff in the other suit is no other than his nephew. An error in the calculation of the amount due in the plaint was also pointed out.

The other suit, O.S. 1463 of 1955, is a suit on another promissory note executed on 2nd January, 1950, by the first defendant, M/s. Wazir Sultan & Sons, represented by its managing partner Hameed Sultan, in favour of the second defendant, K. Appa Rao, for a sum of Rs. 45,000 and transferred by him to the plaintiff on 25th August, 1951. The following are the material allegations in this plaint. On 2nd January, 1950 the first defendant by its managing partner Hameed Sultan executed a promissory note in favour of the second defendant for a sum of Rs. 45,000 (O.S.) repayable with interest at 12 per cent per annum. In respect of the said promissory note the first defendant paid to the second defendant two sums of Rs. 5,000 each on 12th June 1951 and 21st July, 1951 respectively. The balance due in respect of the principal and interest is Rs. 52,985 (O.S.) equivalent to Rs. 45,414 in Indian Currency. The first defendant practically admitt