MUNEEB AHMED KHAN and others vs PROVINCE OF PUNJAB and others
This civil petition arose from a suit filed by the petitioners-plaintiffs claiming ownership of suit land via allotment, alleging that the respondent state authorities had forcibly dispossessed them. The suit was dismissed by the High Court, which reversed the lower court's judgment and decree. The core legal question was whether the respondents had acquired adverse possession and prescriptive title over the subject property. The Supreme Court observed that the petitioners failed to specify any date of dispossession in their plaint or evidence. Furthermore, a report from the Evacuee Trust Property Board established that the suit land was evacuee trust property allotted to a school that had been continuously functioning on the premises since 1950. The Supreme Court upheld the High Court's finding that the respondents had acquired prescriptive title under Section 28 of the Limitation Act 1908. Consequently, the petition was found to be devoid of merit and was dismissed.
- Whether a party claiming forcible dispossession must plead and prove the specific date of dispossession to resist a claim of prescriptive title?
- Whether continuous possession of evacuee trust land by a government institution since 1950 confers prescriptive title under Section 28 of the Limitation Act 1908?
- Section 28, Limitation Act 1908
ORDER
' TASSADUQ HUSSAIN JILLANI, J.---The suit of the petitioners-plaintiffs stands dismissed vide the impugned judgment dated 10-10-2006 and the learned High Court in reversing the judgment and decree of the learned Court below came to the conclusion that the suit property is in possession of Education Department and a school is functioning over there in possession of the respondents.
2. The case of the petitioners is that they were allotted the suit land and that the respondents took forcible possession of the same since long. However, admittedly, neither any date of dispossession has been given in the plaint nor in the evidence led by the petitioners-plaintiffs. The report submitted by the Evacuee Trust Property Board, pursuant to the order of this Court dated 24-1- 2007, is to the effect that the suit land was evacuee trust property and the same was allotted to a school and school is functioning since 1950.
3. In the afore-referred circumstances, the impugned finding of the learned High Court to the effect that the respondents had acquired the prescriptive title in terms of section 28 of the Limitation Act is unexceptionable. This petition having no merit is accordingly dismissed and .