Ramesam, J.

1. Defendants 1 and 5 are the petitioners before me. The suit was brought on a promissory-note executed by defendants 1 and 5. The defendants pleaded that the promissory-note was not supported by consideration. They admit that they executed the note, but say that it was intended to be a security to cover the advance which the plaintiff was willing to pay on behalf of the defendants in connexion with an expected litigation between the vettiyaris and talayaris of the village about the Periandavan temple and, as a matter of fact, the plaintiff did not spend any money for such a dispute. There were some criminal proceedings for which the plaintiff did not pay and no civil litigation followed. The defendants, therefore, say that the note was not supported by consideration. The burden of proof is on the defendants. They examined four witnesses to prove their case. This evidence was accepted by the District Munsif who disbelieved plaintiffs evidence, the plaintiff having sworn that he paid cash for the amount. In this state of the record one would think that the plaintiffs suit would have been dismissed. The District Munsif says:

Their (the defendants) plea is really pla