IBRAHIM vs UMAR DIN And Other
This matter arises from a dispute regarding the calculation of entitlement units for land left behind in India, specifically concerning the rates applied for Banjar Jadeed, Banjar Qadeem, and Ghair Mumkin land. The petitioner was allotted land in 1956 based on initial calculations but challenged them in 1969, seeking higher unit rates. The Settlement Commissioner dismissed the petitioner's revision on 25-3-1974, holding that his total entitlement was already satisfied and the calculations complied with paragraph 16, Part II of the Rehabilitation Settlement Scheme. The Lahore High Court dismissed the subsequent writ petition, noting the delay and lack of objection when the 1956 allotment was made. The Supreme Court of Pakistan upheld the High Court's decision, ruling that the petitioner could not be permitted to agitate unit calculations that had been settled and satisfied as early as 1956. Consequently, the petition for leave to appeal was refused.
- Can a petitioner challenge the calculation of land entitlement units long after the original allotment has been finalized and satisfied?
- Whether the High Court is justified in dismissing a writ petition filed years after the initial departmental calculation of entitlement units?
ORDER
M.S.H. QURAISHI, J.--The dispute relates to the calculation of units of the petitioner's entitlement in respect of land left behind in District Gurgaun, India. The calculation had been made at the rate of 28 units per Acre for Banjar Jadeed, 14 units per Acre for Banjar Qadeem and 7 units per Acre for Ghair Mumkin. He had been allotted land on this basis in village Jambar Khurd, Tehsil Chunian, then District Lahore, in 1956. However, in 1969 he disputed the calculations claiming that he would be entitled to 50 units per Acre for Banjar Jadeed, 25 units per Acre for Banjar Qadeem and 121 units per Acre for Ghair Mumkin. The matter was finally disposed of in the Department by the Settlement Commissioner, Lahore, on 25-3-1974 when the petitioner's revision was dismissed. The reasons for the dismissal were that the total entitlement of the petitioner had already been satisfied and no pending unit remained anywhere and that the calculations made were in accordance with para. 16, Part II of the Rehabilitation Settlement Scheme. The petitioner agitated the matter in the writ jurisdiction before the Lahore High Court but his petition was dismissed on the ground, inter alia, that the allotment in his favour having been made in 1956 on the basis of the departmental calculation and no objection having been taken at that time. The petitioner could not raise the dispute on 29-3-1969 when he filed an appeal against allotment made in favour of respondent Umar Din.
2. We are of the view that the High Court was fully justified in disallowing the petitioner to agitate in 1969 the calculation of the units of his entitlement made and satisfied as early as 1956. We therefore, refuse his petition for leave to appeal.