The plaintiff is the appellant in these two appeals. He instituted suits O.S. Nos. 512 and 513 of 1947 in the District Munsif’s Court, Pattukottai, to set aside a decree dated 7th March, 1946, passed in in M.A. No. 151 of 1946 on the file of the Deputy Collector’s Court, Pattukottai, on the ground of alleged fraud in service by the Revenue Inspector. These suits were transferred from the file of the District Munsif’s Court, Pattukottai, to the District Munsif’s Court, Mannargudi, on the grounds of administrative convenience by the District Judge, West Tanjore, and were numbered O.S. Nos. 38 and 39 of 1949 respectively. The suits were contested.

When the suits were taken up for hearing on the 15th March, 1949, the plaintiff presented an application I.A. No. 160 of 1949, for an adjournment. By an order passed by the learned District Munsif, the adjournment was refused on the ground that it was bereft of bona fides and the petition for adjournment was dismissed with costs and when the suits were taken up, the pleader for the plaintiff stated that the plaintiff was not prepared and refused to proceed with the case or adduce evidence or even examine himself, as the request for ad