The Supreme Court has ruled that a civil court cannot separate one issue for preliminary determination after a composite trial has already begun.
The dispute concerned a property suit in which the plaintiff had completed evidence and the defendants had started theirs before limitation was isolated and decided under Order XIV Rule 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The Court held that the provision permits an eligible legal issue to be tried first, but not to reorder a trial already underway.
It set aside the decisions of the trial court, first appellate court and Kerala High Court, restored the suit, and directed the trial court to resume from the point of interruption. The ruling discourages fragmented trials and the delay caused by avoidable remands.
