Limitation as a preliminary issue fails where disputed facts determine the applicable bar and require a full trial.

Limitation could not be tried as a preliminary issue because its applicability depended on disputed facts, including whether the property was trust property protected by Section 10 of the Limitation Act, 1963 and whether the settlement deeds involved a transfer by the trustee for valuable consideration. Under Order 14 Rule 2 CPC, a preliminary issue is permissible only where the suit can be disposed of on a pure question of law, not on a mixed question of law and fact. The court therefore held that the limitation defence could not be decided without evidence, the suit could not be dismissed at that stage, and the matter had to proceed to trial on merits.

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Issues: Whether the question of limitation could be decided as a preliminary issue when the applicability of the Limitation Act depended on disputed facts concerning the nature of the property and the transfer; and whether the suit could be dismissed at that stage.

Analysis: The applicability of the limitation bar turned on factual questions, including whether the property was trust property within the protection of Section 10 of the Limitation Act, 1963, and whether the settlement deeds involved a transfer by the trustee for valuable consideration. A plea of limitation cannot be decided in the abstract where the starting point and the applicable provision depend on evidence. Under Order 14 Rule 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, a preliminary issue may be tried only where the suit can be disposed of on a pure question of law, not where the issue is mixed with fact. The courts below therefore erred in treating limitation as a preliminary issue and in concluding the matter without trial of the factual disputes.

Conclusion: The issue of limitation could not validly be tried as a preliminary issue, and the dismissal of the suit on that basis was unsustainable.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded, the impugned judgments were set aside, and the suit was left to be decided on merits in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: A limitation defence cannot be treated as a preliminary issue where its decision depends on disputed facts essential to determine the applicability of the governing limitation provision.

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