1997 SCMR 1172

SEMUAL And Others vs PIARA MASIH And Other

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Citation1997 SCMR 1172

CourtSupreme Court of Pakistan

Case No.Civil Petition No. 1311-L 6f 1995

Date1996-03-05

Judge(s)Muhammad Ilyas and Sh. Riaz Ahmad, JJ,

ResultOrder accordingly

AI Summary — generated from this judgment; read the full text below and verify before relying on it.

This matter concerns a petition for leave to appeal against a High Court judgment regarding the inheritance and succession of government land. The core legal question presented is whether succession in the instant case is governed by Section 21(b) of the Colonization of Government Lands (Punjab) Act, 1912, or by Section 37 of the Pakistan Succession Act, 1925, specifically in light of the saving provision contained in Section 29(2) of the Pakistan Succession Act, 1925. The petitioner contends that the High Court relied on a precedent (PLD 1992 SC 385) that did not address this specific statutory argument. The Supreme Court, finding merit in the contention that the legal issue requires further examination, granted leave to appeal. Given that the relied-upon precedent was decided by a Full Bench, the Court directed that the appeal be placed before a larger Bench of three or more judges. The existing stay order was ordered to continue until the final disposal of the matter.

Questions settled in this judgment

Does Section 29(2) of the Pakistan Succession Act 1925 operate as a saving provision that excludes the application of Section 37 of the same Act in favor of Section 21(b) of the Colonization of Government Lands (Punjab) Act 1912?
Is the succession of government land governed by the Pakistan Succession Act 1925 or the Colonization of Government Lands (Punjab) Act 1912?

Laws & provisions referred

Section 29(2), Pakistan Succession Act 1925
Section 21(b), Colonization of Government Lands (Punjab) Act 1912
Section 37, Pakistan Succession Act 1925

succession lawgovernment landleave to appealstatutory interpretationinheritance

ORDER

Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that in view of subsection (2) of section 29 of the Pakistan Succession Act, 1925, which is a saving provision, succession in the present case will be governed by section 21(b) of the Colonization of Government Lands (Punjab) Act, 1912, and not by section 37 of the Pakistan Succession Act, 1925. He also submits that the said argument was not specifically raised in the case reported as PLD 1992 SC 385 (Mst. Inayat Bibi v. Issac Nazirullah and others) which has been relied upon by the learned High Court in the impugned judgment. Leave is, therefore, granted to examine the said plea.

2. Since the cited case was decided by a Full Bench, the appeal in this case may be placed before a Bench consisting of three or more Hon'ble Judges of this Court, after seeking kind orders of the Hon'ble Chief Justice.

3. Stay order already issued on 28-11-1995 shall continue till the final disposal of this matter.