This is a petition by one T. Kunhi Raman, the judgment-debtor in E.P.No. 31 of 1954 and a pensioned Deputy Nazir, to revise and set aside the order of the District Munsif of Kuthuparamba, North Malabar, directing his arrest by 16th July, 1955, ex parte in respect of a decree for a sum of Rs. 160 in favour of the petitioner in the E.P. (Respondent here). I have perused the entire records and heard Achuthan Nambiar the learned counsel for the petitioner and N.R. Sesha Ayyar the learned counsel for the decree-holder-respondent.

Mr. Sesha Ayyar raised a preliminary objection that a civil revision petition would not lie to this Court and only an appeal would lie to the District Court, North Malabar, in view of the observations of a Bench of this Court in Ponnappa Reddi v. Thiruvengadam Pillai and Co1., Mr. Achuthan Nambiar strenuously disputes this, and says that the observations in that Bench judgment will not apply to an order for arrest contravening the mandatory provisions of section 51 of the Civil Procedure Code. I agree with him. The observations in question are found at page 108, and run as follows:

“It is well-settled that when a small cause decree of the Sub-Court or of