RAMACHANDRA IYER, J. :- These appeals raise a question as to the liability of a shipowner for non-disclosure in the bill of lading of a fact relating to the condition of the packages received by him for carriage by sea. The Ellarman and Bucknall Steamship Co. Ltd., whose local agents are Messrs. Best and Co., Ltd., are the appellants in the two appeals, which arise out of the decree in two actions, O. S. Nos. 1135 and 1144 of 1955 (commenced on the original side of this court but later transferred to the City Civil Court, Madras).

The suits were instituted by the first respondent in each of the appeals for recovery of Rs. 26061-4-9 and Rs. 23248 respectively from the-Mercantile Bank of India (the second respondent) and the appellant. They were tried with a similar suit, O- S. No. 1134 of 1955, and a common judgment was delivered. The first respondent in C. C. C A. No. 52 of 1957 entered into two contracts (respectively, dated 12-12-1950 and 19-01-1951, with the British Mercantile Co., New York, for the purchase of fresh Monsento Palystryene Injection Moulding powder (not reground) in granules packed in new fibre drums for Rs. 25000 and Rs. 12000.

The first respondent in C. C