MUHAMMAD SHAFI ETC. vs SADIQ SAEED KHAN Etc.S
This matter came before the Supreme Court of Pakistan as a petition for leave to appeal, which the Court converted into an appeal. The dispute concerned the permanent transfer deed issued by Settlement authorities regarding a specific property (House No. 2848-49). The core legal question involved the rights of the petitioners to the property versus the claims of the legal representatives of Qalandar Khan regarding the underlying land. The Court disposed of the appeal based on a settlement reached between the parties. The holding affirmed the validity of the permanent transfer deed in favor of the petitioners regarding the superstructure, while explicitly excluding any right, interest, or title in the land upon which the evacuee superstructure stands. The Court established the principle that rights and liabilities regarding the superstructure shall mirror those previously held by non-Muslim evacuees, thereby preserving the right of the legal representatives of the original claimant to seek vacant possession of the site in accordance with the law.
- Can a permanent transfer deed for an evacuee property be modified to exclude rights to the underlying land?
- Does the transfer of an evacuee superstructure grant the transferee title to the land beneath it?
ORDER
1. ANWARUL HAQ, C. J.-After bearing the learned counsel for the parties we have decided to convert this petition into an appeal, and disposed of in terms of the settlement reached between the parties to the following effect.
(a) The permanent transfer deed issued by the Settlement authorities in favour of the petitioners, namely, Muhammad Shafi and his brothers Shabir Ahmad, Bashir Ahmad, Abdur Rashid and Ibne Hassan, in respect of the house Bearing No. 2848-49 (Old No. 274-75), shall remain intact subject to the modification that the petitioners shall have no right, interest or title whatsoever in the land on which the evacuee superstructure stands; that their rights and liabilities in regard to the superstructure of the house shall be the same as obtained in favour of the non-Muslim evacuees, with the result that the legal representatives of Qalandar Khan would be entitled to ask for vacant possession of the site in accordance with law, if they have any such right;
(b) The Intra-Court Appeal filed by the petitioners in the Peshawar High Court stands withdrawn; and
(c) The parties will bear their own costs.