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Judgment
A.S. Qureshi, J.—The petitioner herein challenges the order of the learned Joint Civil Judge, Junior Division, Bhavnagar in which the learned Judge has held that the question of Jurisdiction of the Court cannot be tried as preliminary issue because on the averments made in the pleadings it is a mixed question of law and fact and unless the evidence is led it would not be possible to decide as to whether any part of the cause of action arose within the jurisdiction of the trial Court. Mr. S.D. Shah, the learned Counsel for the petitioner has relied on Order-14 Rule-2 Sub-rule (ii) of the CPC to point out that even where there was a mixed question of law and fact as regards jurisdiction of the trial court it could be tried as a preliminary issue.
The submission of Mr. S.D. Shah is not quite correct in view of the fact that the said Sub-rule (ii) lays down that if the Court is of the opinion that the case or any part thereof can be disposed of as an issue of law only, then the Court may proceed to try the issue of jurisdiction as a preliminary issue. If the Court is of the opinion that the issue cannot be disposed of purely as a question of law it cannot try it as a preliminary issue. In this case the trial Court is of the opinion that the issue of jurisdiction cannot be decided till the evidence is led in the matter. The decision of the learned trial Judge is therefore, not assailable. Hence, the revision application is summarily rejected.