Preliminary issues under Order XIV Rule 2 CPC are discretionary; jurisdictional bars need not be tried first automatically.

Order XIV Rule 2 CPC requires judgment on all issues, and permits a jurisdictional question or statutory bar to be tried first only at the court's discretion. A trial court is therefore not bound to treat issues on the bar of suit under the U.P. Consolidation of Holdings Act, the Collector's authority to institute the suit, or court fee as preliminary issues merely because they raise jurisdictional or statutory-bar questions. The court may refuse piecemeal trial where it is not plainly appropriate, and such refusal is not illegal on that ground alone. The writ petition was dismissed because the orders declining preliminary adjudication disclosed no manifest illegality.

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Issues: Whether the trial court was bound to decide, as preliminary issues, the questions relating to the bar of the suit under Section 49 of the U.P. Consolidation of Holdings Act, the Collector's authority to institute the suit, and court fee.

Analysis: Order XIV Rule 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 requires the court to pronounce judgment on all issues, while sub-rule (2) only confers discretion to try a jurisdictional issue or a statutory bar as a preliminary issue if the court thinks fit. The legislative intent is to avoid prolonging litigation by fragmenting the trial, and the court may decide such issues first only where it is plainly appropriate. The refusal to treat the framed issues as preliminary issues was therefore not illegal merely because they involved questions of jurisdiction or bar to the suit.

Conclusion: The trial court was not bound to decide the issues as preliminary issues, and its refusal to do so was valid.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition failed, as the orders declining to try the issues preliminarily disclosed no manifest illegality.

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