MUHAMMAD JAMEEL vs PEER BAKHSH and others
This petition for leave to appeal arises from a judgment of the High Court accepting a writ petition filed by the respondent regarding a house situated within the area of evacuee agricultural land transferred to the petitioner. The core legal question was whether the house in dispute stood transferred to the respondent under Settlement Scheme No. VII or whether it constituted property subservient to agriculture passing to the agricultural land transferee. The Supreme Court held that since findings of fact established the house was in possession of the respondent as a tenant since before 1947 and lacked any factual basis showing it was subservient to agriculture, the High Court correctly ruled it stood transferred to the respondent under Settlement Scheme No. VII. The key principle laid down is that the transfer of a house under Settlement Scheme No. VII to a pre-1947 occupant tenant prevails unless there are concrete factual findings that the structure serves purposes subservient to agriculture.
- Does a house in possession of a tenant since before 1947 stand transferred under Settlement Scheme No. VII?
- Can a house claimed as subservient to agriculture be excluded from Settlement Scheme No. VII without supporting factual findings?
- Displaced Persons (Land Settlement) Act
ORDER
1. ' MUHAMMAD AFZAL ZULLAH, J.--This petition by the transferee of evacuee agricultural land under the Displaced Persons (Land Settlement) Act, is directed against the acceptance of a Writ Petition filed by the respondent No,1, by the High Court; in respect of a house which is stated to be situate within the area of the said transferred land.
2. ' According to the findings of fact, the house in question was in possession of the respondent No,1 as a tenant since before 1947. This also shows that the house was also constructed prior to 1947.
3. The High Court has taken the view that the said respondent being in possession of the house in dispute it stood transferred to him under Settlement Scheme No,VII.
4. ' Learned counsel for the petitioner after going through the relevant paragraph of the Scheme, was unable to urge the point that the said respondent was not entitled to the transfer of the house under the Scheme. He, however, vehemently contended that the house in question was constructed in such a manner that it served purposes subservient to agriculture therefore, it stood transferred to the petitioner as a part of agricultural land and its independent transfer under Settlement Scheme No,VII could not be visualised as held by the High Court in the impugned judgment.
5. After hearing the learned counsel on the question raised, we are unable to agree with him because there are no factual basis to support the contention. According to the observations of the High Court, there was no finding or order to support the statement that the house in possession of respondent No,1 "was subservient to agriculture". That being so, we do not find any force in this petition. Leave to appeal is refused.