MASIHULLAH and anothers vs THE DEPUTY SETTLEMENT COMMISSIONERII, BOARD OF REVENUE, PUNJAB
The petitioners assailed a judgment of the Lahore High Court which dismissed in limine their writ petition against an order of the Deputy Settlement Commissioner refusing to correct or increase the transferred excess area. The core legal question was whether the petitioners could initiate a fresh round of litigation for the same relief and on the same cause of action after their prior challenges before settlement authorities, the High Court, and the Supreme Court had already been conclusively dismissed. The Supreme Court held that having previously exhausted all remedies up to the apex court without success, the petitioners were barred from initiating fresh litigation on the same matter. The court laid down the principle that a party cannot re-litigate a settled grievance through successive proceedings when prior challenges regarding the same cause of action and relief have reached finality.
- Whether a party can initiate a fresh writ petition on the same cause of action after prior challenges before settlement authorities and superior courts have been dismissed?
- Are petitioners entitled to re-litigate the quantum of transferred excess area once their earlier petitions for leave to appeal have been rejected by the Supreme Court?
1. ' WALI MUHAMMAD KHAN, J.---Masihullah and Bashirullah, petitioners herein, assail the judgment dated 13-2-1993 passed by a learned Single Judge of the Lahore High Court, whereby Writ Petition No, 302-R/92, filed by them against the order of the Deputy Settlement Commissioner dated 15-12- 1971, was dismissed in limine.
2. ' We have heard Raja Dilshad A. Khan, Advocate, for the petitioners, and have perused the record of the case.
3. ' Admittedly, the petitioner was transferred 1 Kanal 13 Marlas 261 sq.Ft. As excess area. His grievance is that the excess area comes to 2 Kanals 1 Marla and that he is entitled to the transfer of more area than already allotted. It is not disputed that he had earlier made a representation to the Deputy Settlement Commissioner for the correction of the area which was rejected on 15-12-1971.
4. Aggrieved therefrom, they filed a Writ Petition No, 1333-R/74 in the High Court which was also dismissed on 13-2-1976 and the petition for Leave to Appeal No, 882/76 was also rejected on 11-2- 1979 by this Court. Since the petitioners had already approached the special forums of Settlement Authorities for the correction of the area which had declined the same and their grievance before the High Court and the Supreme Court also could not succeed, they were not entitled to embark upon a fresh round of litigation on the same cause-of-action and for the same relief. There is no illegality in the impugned orders of the Deputy Settlement Commissioner and the High Court.
5. ' No case for interference having been made out, leave to appeal is refused and the petition dismissed.
Cited by 2 cases
- JAMIL AHMAD SHEIKH vs Ch. ZAFAR IQBAL and another 2010 YLR 1257
- Jameel Ahmad vs M.B.R., Etc. K.L.R. 2010 Civil Cases 114