Distinguish preliminary, merit and sentencing hearings.

A. Preliminary hearing (prastabwi sunuwa) — the first-stage hearing on the case's admissibility and frame, not its merits: the court examines the plaint/complaint's registration requirements (jurisdiction, limitation, court-fee, cause-of-action, the parties' completeness), the preliminary objections (res judicata, defect of parties), and — in writ practice — whether the petition states a prima facie case for the show-cause order. The preliminary hearing filters: defective pleadings are returned for cure; time-barred or barred causes are dismissed at the threshold; the rest proceed to issues and merits. B. Merit (final) hearing (charam sunuwa) — the full trial of the dispute on the framed issues: the evidence (documents and witnesses), the arguments, and the reasoned judgment — the civil case's decree or dismissal; the criminal case's conviction or acquittal. C. Sentencing hearing — the modern separation in criminal procedure: once conviction is pronounced, a distinct hearing on sentence follows — the parties heard on aggravation and mitigation (the pre-sentence materials; the victim's face), then the sentence within the Code's ranges under the Sentencing Act 2074's purposes and grounds. The separation's logic: guilt is about the past act; sentence is about the person and the proportionate response — two different questions, two different hearings.