LAL DIN And Others Versus ALI AHMAD And Other

Civil Petitions Nos.558 and 696 of 1985 Petitions Nos. 659/11 and 676/11 of, decided on 16th May, 1989.

Authored by Saad Saood Jan. Result: Leave granted.

Summary

This matter concerns petitions for leave to appeal before the Supreme Court of Pakistan regarding the interpretation of the Displaced Persons (Land Settlement) Act, 1958, and the Evacuee Property and Displaced Persons Laws (Repeal) Act, 1975. The core legal questions involve whether a pending mukhbari application, upon which no action has been taken, constitutes proceedings saved under the Repeal Act of 1975; whether the High Court, in its constitutional jurisdiction, may set aside a notified officer's order cancelling an allotment without a definitive finding on whether the allotment was in excess; and whether a mukhbir holds a statutory right to claim land against an unsatisfied claim from an allotment cancelled due to their information. The Court granted leave to appeal to address these significant questions of law concerning the rights of mukhbirs and the scope of constitutional review regarding the cancellation of allotments. The proceedings were directed to be prepared for hearing on the existing record, with liberty for parties to file additional documents, thereby setting the stage for a determination on the merits of these statutory and jurisdictional interpretations.

Questions settled in this judgment

Can a mukhbari application under the Displaced Persons (Land Settlement) Act, 1958, upon which no action has been taken, be treated as proceedings saved by the Evacuee Property and Displaced Persons Laws (Repeal) Act, 1975?
May the High Court in constitutional jurisdiction set aside an order cancelling an allotment without a definite finding that the allotment was in excess?
Does a mukhbir possess a statutory right to seek allotment of land against an unsatisfied claim out of an allotment cancelled due to information supplied by them?

Laws & provisions referred

mukhbari applicationallotment cancellationevacuee propertyconstitutional jurisdictiondisplaced personsstatutory rightsrepeal act

ORDER

SAAD SAOOD JAN, J.---Leave to appeal is granted in these two f petitions to consider the questions (1) whether the filing of mukhbari application under section 10/11, Displace Persons (Land Settlement) Act, 1958 upon which no action has yet taken, could not be treated as proceedings saved by section 2(2), Evacuee Property and Displaced Persons Laws (Repeal) Act, 1975; (2) whether in exercise of its constitutional jurisdiction the High Court could set aside the order of a notified officer directing the cancellation of an allotment under section 10, Displaced Persons (Land Settlement) Act, without coming to a definite finding that it was not a case of excess allotment; and

(3)whether a mukhbir could be deprived of the statutory right to seek allotment of land against his unsatisfied claim out of an allotment which was cancelled as a result of the information supplied by him. Security for costs in the sum of Rs.5,000 in each petition. The appeals may be made ready for hearing on the present record with permission to the parties to rile additional documents, if any.

Judges on this bench

Ghulam Mujaddid382 judgments
Saad Saood Jan2,559 judgments