SECRETARY, HEALTH DEPARTMENT, GOVERNMENT OF BALUCHISTAN vs Miss
This matter concerns a review petition filed by the Secretary, Health Department, Government of Baluchistan, seeking to challenge an earlier order of the Supreme Court of Pakistan that had dismissed a civil petition as having become infructuous. The core legal question was whether the court should adjudicate on the entitlement for reserved seats under category B of paragraph 13 of the Prospectus, despite the underlying issue having been rendered moot by the dismissal of the petition. The Supreme Court declined to review its prior order, holding that the controversy regarding the reserved seats did not constitute a live issue, nor did the previous dismissal contain an error patent on the face of the record. The court maintained its decision to dismiss the petition as infructuous, while clarifying that the substantive legal question regarding seat entitlement remains open for consideration should it arise in future litigation. The principle affirmed is that the court will not entertain review petitions on issues that are no longer live or where no clear error on the record exists.
- Can a review petition be entertained when the underlying issue has become infructuous?
- Does a controversy that is no longer a live issue constitute an error patent on the face of the record?
ORDER
1. ' MUHAMMAD HALEEM, J.-The petitioners seek review of the order dated 10th of January, 1979, by which Civil Petition No, 131-R of 1978, was disposed of as being infructuous.
2. ' The Advocate-General, Baluchistan, contends that the question as to the. Entitlement for the reserved seats under category B of para. 13 of the Prospectus, irrespective of the dismissal pursuant to the decision of the Inter-Provincial Coordination Committee, requires consideration in the face of the judgment of the High Court as it will affect a number of other cases. But this controversy, in our view, is not a live issue nor can it he called as an error patent on the face of the record for the petition was dismissed as A having become infructuous in the facts and circumstances of the case. However, this question will be open for consideration if it arises hereafter in some other case.
3. ' With this observation this petition is dismissed.