Mian NASIM AKHTAR vs Mst. AMINA YAQOOB and others
This matter arises from a petition for leave to appeal directed against an order of the Lahore High Court, which dismissed the petitioner's civil revision against concurrent judgments and decrees declaring the respondents' predecessor as the sole legal heir of the deceased. The High Court had declined the civil revision on the technical ground that one of the legal heirs, Mst. Azra Akhtar, was not impleaded in the title of the civil revision, rendering an effective decree impossible. The core legal question is whether a civil revision can be dismissed on a technical omission of a party's name in the memo of revision when that party was already a party in the proceedings before the lower courts. The Supreme Court held that the omission appeared to be a clerical mistake or oversight resulting from discrepancies in the lower court's judgment title, and the petitioner should not have been non-suited on such technical grounds. The Court granted leave to appeal to examine the justification of the High Court's order, establishing that procedural oversights regarding party titles, where parties are already on record below, do not warrant summary dismissal.
- Whether a civil revision can be dismissed on the ground that a legal heir was omitted from the title of the revision memo due to a clerical mistake?
- Is a petitioner justified in omitting a party's name from a civil revision title when that party was duly impleaded before the courts below?
ORDER
' AJMAL MIAN, J.---The above petition is directed against the order dated 19-3-1996 passed by a learned Single Judge of the Lahore High Court in Civil Revision No,2562 of 1995, filed by the petitioner against the concurrent judgments/decrees dated 1-6-1992 and 7-11-1995 of the learned Civil Judge, 1st Class, Lahore, and of the learned Additional District Judge, Lahore, respectively, decreeing Mian Muhammad Yagoob, the predecessor of the respondents' suit for declaration that he was the sole legal heir of Mian-Zia-urRehman deceased and maintaining the same in appeal respectively, declining the above civil revision on the ground that one of the legal heirs i.e, Mst.Azra Akhtar, daughter of Mian Muhammad Yaqoob, was not impleaded in the civil revision and in her absence no effective decree could be passed. The petitioner has, therefore, filed the present petition for leave to appeal.
2. In support of the above petition Mr. A.R.. Sheikh, learned Senior Advocate Supreme Court for the petitioner, has vehemently contended that Mst. Azra Akhtar was very much party inter alia before the Additional District Judge and the omission to mention her in the title of civil revision was merely a clerical mistake, which did not warrant the dismissal of the aforesaid civil revision on the above technical ground.
3. We have noticed that in the title page of memo. Of appeal (at page 50 of the paper book)
Mst.Azra Akhtar has been mentioned as respondent No,1 (vi). However, it appears that in the title page of the judgment of the learned Additional District Judge, instead of mentioning the name of the legal heirs of Mian Muhammad Yagoob, his name appeared. It may be on account of the above discrepancy, the petitioner on account of oversight might have left out Mst.Azra Akhtar.
4. We are inclined to grant leave to consider, as to whether the learned Judge in Chambers was justified in non-suiting the petitioner on the ground that A Mst.Azra Akhtar was not mentioned in the title of the civil revision though she was very much party before the Courts below. Leave is, accordingly, granted.