Pakistan Case LawMUHAMMAD ZAMAN Versus INAYAT ALI And Another
The respondents filed a civil suit seeking a declaration of their share in the suit land as co-allottees, alleging they and the defendant were members of the same family and the land was allotted jointly. The trial court decreed the suit, and the lower appellate court as well as the High Court maintained the decree. In the petition for leave to appeal before the Supreme Court, the petitioner contended that the civil court lacked jurisdiction under Section 22 of the Displaced Persons (Land Settlement) Act, 1958. The Supreme Court held that since the jurisdictional objection was not raised in the written statement before the trial court and no issue was framed regarding it, and given that the allotment chit established the parties belonged to the same family, interference was unwarranted. Consequently, the Supreme Court refused leave to appeal, holding that a belated objection to civil court jurisdiction will not be entertained when the matter was contested on merits below.
- Can a party raise the objection of lack of civil court jurisdiction for the first time in a petition for leave to appeal when it was not pleaded in the written statement?
- Does a civil court have jurisdiction to entertain a suit regarding joint allotment of evacuee land when the objection to jurisdiction was never raised or framed as an issue before the trial court?
ORDER
NASIM HASAN SHAH, J.---The respondents herein filed a suit averring that the defendant (petitioner in this petition for leave to appeal) was their co-allottee but was denying their share in the suit land. Accordingly, an issue was framed to the effect "whether the plaintiff and the defendants are members of one family (kunba) and the suit land was allotted to them jointly". The learned trial Court decreed the suit of the plaintiffs. The appeal filed by the petitioner against the said decree was dismissed by the Additional District Judge and the High Court has refused to interfere, on revision. Hence this petition for leave to appeal.
The main ground urged in support of this petition is that the Civil Court did not have the jurisdiction to entertain a suit to grant a decree in respect of the suit land on the ground of joint allotment to the parties of-an evacuee land, in view of the provisions of section 22 of the Displaced Persons (Land Settlement) Act, 1958.
This argument was rejected by the High Court on the ground that the point of jurisdiction was not taken in the written statement and the suit was contested in the Courts below only on the merits. We do not think that this is a fit case for interference. No objection was taken on the ground of lack of jurisdiction of the Civil Court before the trial Court and no issue struck with regard thereto; the Parchi Taqseem (allotment chit) on which the petitioner was relying clearly showed that he was a member of the Kunba. A fair & just decision appears to have been made by the Courts below. Leave refused.
Judges on this bench
- Nasim Hasan Shah3,148 judgments
- Naimuddin623 judgments
- Ajmal Mian2,984 judgments