Section 9A CPC limits preliminary issues to jurisdictional objections; limitation cannot be tried under that procedure.

Section 9A of the Code of Civil Procedure permits a preliminary determination only of objections going to the court's jurisdiction when interim relief is sought. Limitation, though it may affect maintainability, is not an objection to inherent jurisdiction and therefore cannot be framed or decided as a preliminary issue under that provision. The provision is confined to cases where the court's authority to entertain the suit is in doubt, not to broader merits or procedural defences. Accordingly, the courts below were not justified in treating limitation as a Section 9A preliminary issue.

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Issues: Whether the question of limitation can be framed and decided as a preliminary issue under Section 9A of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

Analysis: Section 9A is confined to an objection as to the court's jurisdiction when interim relief is sought. Its language and object show that the preliminary determination contemplated by the provision is limited to jurisdiction in the narrow sense, namely the court's authority to entertain the suit. Limitation, even if it may affect the maintainability of a suit, is not an objection to inherent jurisdiction within the scope of Section 9A. The legislative purpose of the provision is to prevent trial on merits where jurisdiction itself is doubtful, not to permit other issues to be tried as preliminary issues under that procedure.

Conclusion: The issue of limitation could not be decided as a preliminary issue under Section 9A, and the courts below were not justified in so framing it.

Ratio Decidendi: Section 9A permits a preliminary determination only of objections going to the court's jurisdiction, and not of issues such as limitation which do not negate the court's inherent jurisdiction to entertain the suit.

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