AHMED AND Another vs MUHAMMAD SHAFI AND Other
This civil petition for special leave to appeal arises out of a property dispute concerning land originally sold in 1936 by the predecessor of respondents Nos. 1 to 3, whose subsequent suit for possession upon the vendor's death was decreed in 1946. Following the 1947 partition, the land was allotted to the petitioners as evacuee property. Upon the vendor's death in 1962, respondents sought possession based on the 1946 decree, which the civil court decreed, though the District Judge later accepted the petitioners' appeal. The Lahore High Court, however, accepted the respondents' regular second appeal. The core legal question is whether the civil court's jurisdiction was barred and whether the petitioners held rights extending beyond the vendor's lifetime. The Supreme Court held that only the evacuee rights of the non-Muslim mortgagee/purchaser to hold possession until the vendor's death were acquired and allotted, meaning the petitioners' rights ceased upon the vendor's death without requiring a declaration from the Custodian, and the civil court's jurisdiction was not barred regarding such limited rights. The Supreme Court dismissed the petition, refusing leave to appeal, while observing that the Government should allot alternative land to the petitioners in lieu of the forfeited property.
- Whether the jurisdiction of the civil court is barred under the evacuee laws when the property allotment pertained only to limited evacuee rights that expired upon the vendor's death?
- Does an allotment of evacuee property encompassing the right to hold possession until a vendor's death survive the expiration of that vendor's lifetime without a declaration from the Custodian?
- Whether petitioners deprived of an evacuee land allotment through no fault of their own are entitled to the allotment of land in lieu thereof?
- Section 4, Displaced Persons Act
- Section 21, Pakistan Administration of Evacuee Property Act
- Section 22, Pakistan Administration of Evacuee Property Act
- Section 25, Displaced Persons (Land Settlement) Act
- Section 41, Administration of Evacuee Property Act
ORDER.
MUSHTAQ HUSSAIN, J.-Respondents Nos. 1 to 3 filed a suit for possession of the land in dispute on the ground that their predecessor Rehmat Khan who sold the land in dispute in 1936 to one Ishar Singh could not have done so. On 28-2-1946 the suit was decreed in favour of the plaintiffs with the provision that they would be entitled to claim possession on the death of Rehmat Khan. Meanwhile in 1947 partition of the country intervened and the land was allotted to the present petitioners.
2. On 12-11-1962 Rehmat Khan died and respondents Nos. 1 to 3 filed a suit for possession on the basis of the decree obtained by them on 28-2-1946. The petitioners contested the suit on the ground that the property was an evacuee property and that it was allotted to them as such and the civil Court had no jurisdiction to go into the matter. On 16-5-1964 the Civil Judge decreed the suit. On 22-1-1965 an appeal filed by the petitioners was accepted by the learned District Judge.
3. The respondents then filed R. S. A. No. 406 of 1965 in the Lahore High Court which was accepted by it on 7-7-1980. Hence this civil petition for special leave to appeal.
4. It has been submitted before us that the land having been acquired under section 4 of the Displaced Persons Act only the Custodian was competent to look into it and to determine its character. Under the la there could have been an acquisition only of such rights in the property were evacuee and since all official acts are presumed to have been regularly done and there being nothing against this presumption, we would assume that it was only the right of Isher Singh to remain in possession of the property in dispute during the lifetime of Rehmat which had become evacuee and was allotted to the petitioners. That being so, the moment Rehmat died on 12-11-1962 the petitioners ceased to have any right in the property in dispute and no declaration from the Custodian was called for to dispossess them from it.
5. It was stated that since the allotment was not challenged under section 21 or 22 of the Pakistan Administration of Evacuee Property Act, it became final and the jurisdiction of the civil Court was, therefore, barred under section 25 of the Displaced Persons (Land Settlement) Act and section 41 of the Administration of Evacuee Property Act.
Assuming this to be a correct statement of the law applicable to the facts of the case, the answer already given by us in the preceding paragraph is equally applicable to it. The allotment in the facts of the case was only of evacuee rights and the evacuee rights were only to hold possession of that property till the death of Rehmat Khan. We, therefore, reject this petition and refuse to grant leave to appeal.
6. Before parting with this case, however, we would like to observe that since an allotment was made to the petitioners they should be presumed to have been entitled to it under the evacuee laws, and now that they have been deprived of it for no fault of theirs it is incumbent upon the Government to allot to them land in lieu of that which they have now to forfeit. We need not say that we expect that this will be done in the shortest possible time.
Cited by 3 cases
- Ghulam Hurr and 2 others vs District Collector Bhakkar, etc 2020 PLJ Lahore 137, 2019 LHC 4169
- GHULAM HURR Versus DISTRICT COLLECTOR BHAKKAR 2020 CLCN 23
- MUHAMMAD RAFIQ vs Mian MASOOD AHMAD and 6 others 1984 MLD 502