IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. C.R. No.227 of 2008 Date of Decision: 16.1.2008 Ashok Kumar and others .....Petitioners Vs. Bhupinder Singh and others ...Respondents CORAM : HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE RAJIVE BHALLA Present : Mr. Vikas Singh, Advocate for the petitioners. ... RAJIVE BHALLA, J (Oral) Challenge in this petition is, to an order dated 22.9.2006, passed by the Civil Judge, (Junior Division), Rajpura, dismissing an application for treating the issue with respect to res-judicata as a preliminary issue. I have heard learned counsel for the petitioners and perused the paper book. Apart from the fact that the present petition suffers from unexplained delay and laches, an issue of res-judicata raises mixed questions of fact and law and, therefore, cannot be treated as a preliminary issue. Faced with the aforementioned situation, counsel for the petitioners states that while dismissing the application, the learned trial Court has recorded an emphatic opinion as to the merits of the plea of res- judicata. Needless to say,any opinion recorded by a Court, in an interim order, is not binding, while adjudicating the issue finally. In view of what has been stated herein above, the present petition is dismissed. 16.1.2008 ( RAJIVE BHALLA ) GS JUDGE