SAEE MUHAMMAD AND Another vs TALIB HUSSAIN SHAH
This matter arises from a pre-emption suit filed by the respondent to challenge the sale of land by his father. The trial court dismissed the suit upon finding that the plaintiff had waived his right of pre-emption, but the lower appellate court and the High Court successively decreed the suit in favor of the respondent. Before the Supreme Court, leave to appeal was granted to examine whether the civil court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit on the ground that the land sold was evacuee property forming part of the compensation pool. The Supreme Court held that the appellants failed to establish that the land had not been permanently settled on the vendor prior to the sale, noting that such a factual plea ought to have been raised in the written statement to afford the plaintiff an opportunity to respond. Consequently, the appeal was dismissed, affirming the concurrent findings regarding the maintainability and merits of the suit.
- Does a civil court lack jurisdiction to entertain a pre-emption suit regarding land that was once evacuee property?
- Can a party raise a mixed question of law and fact concerning the status of evacuee property for the first time before the Supreme Court without pleading it in the written statement?
- Whether land included in the compensation pool is immune from pre-emption proceedings if permanent rights had already been conferred on the allottee prior to the sale?
- Section 15(3), Land Settlement Act 1958
- Section 6, Land Settlement Act 1958
ORDER
1. MUHAMMAD YAQUB ALI, J.-Appellants are vendee-defendants in the suit filed by the respondent to pre-empt the sale of 48 kanals of land in village Kahi, district Gujrat, sold away by his father on 30- 7-1960 for the sum of Rs. 11,000. The suit was resisted on the ground that the plaintiff had waived his right of pre-emption by associating with the sale. Trial Court gave effect to the plea and dismissed the suit, but on appeal by the respondent the District Judge came to a contrary conclusion and decreed the suit. The High Court dismissed the second appeal preferred by the appellants affirming the finding that the respon--dent had not waived his right of pre-emption.
2. Leave to appeal was granted to consider the plea that as the land sold was evacuee property, Civil Court did not have the jurisdiction to entertain the suit. The plea was not raised in the written statement, but it was urged that the material already brought on the record was sufficient to decide the issue.
3. Raja Said Akbar appearing in support of the appeal drew our attention to the Jamabandi for the year 1956-57 filed along with the plaint in which the Rehabilitation Commissioner, West Pakistan, is entered in the column of proprietors as owner of the land through Mohammad Hussain Shah, vendor, as an allottee of the land. This, however, does not make out that the land allotted to Muhammad Hussain Shah had not been permanently settled on him under section 15 (3) of the Land Settlement Act, 1958, before the sale was effected on 30th July 1960.
4. The plea that the land sold by Mohammad Hussain Shah to the appellants was included in the compensation pool and as such under section 6 of the Land Settlement Act it was immune from being "proceeded against for any claim in any manner whatsoever in execution of any decree or order by any process of Court or other authority" does not, therefore, hold good on the present record. In case the appellants had raised this objection in their written statement the plaintiff would have been in a position to show that the land was settled permanently on the vendor before the sale took place. There were provisions to that effect in 1959 Rules framed under section 15 (3) of the Act viz: "7 . ...............................------------------------------------------------..
(1) After the acquisition of the land under section 4 and the constitution of the Compensation Pool under section 5, the Assistant Settlement Commissioner of the area concerned, shall, except in the case of categories of land specified in proviso to subsection (3) of section 15,-.
(a) cause a mutation of extinction of all evacuee right and interests in the entire estate to be entered and disposed of and the Central Government shall be substituted for the evacuee holders of rights in the estate ; and
(b) then cause separate mutations, to be entered incorporating the conferment of permanent rights on each person holding an allotment on the basis of the entries in register R. L. II, and mutation, of inheritance or transfer connected therewith, if any, and pass an order giving the details of the area with the particulars of the person concerned."
5. The appeal is in the result without any force and is dismissed hereby though without any order as to costs.
Cited by 8 cases
- MAHMOOD AHMED AKHTAR And ANOTHER vs GOVERNMENT OF BALUCHISTAN 1986 CLC 262
- ROSHAN ALI vs NOOR KHAN AND OTHERS 1985 PLD Supreme Court 228
- AHMAD ZAMAN KHAN vs THE GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN AND 13 OTHERS 1977 PLD Lahore 735
- Haji SULTAN MUHAMMAD AND Another JALLU, NAWAB KHAN vs MUHAMMAD 1973 PLD Supreme Court 347
- AYUB KHAN vs Mst. BALQEES BEGUM 1972 PLD Lahore 686
- BAJ DIN AND Another vs DIN MUHAMMAD AND 2 Other 1972 PLD Lahore 567
- MEHRA vs ZAHUR AHMAD 1971 PLD Lahore 834
- Mst. IMAM HUSSAIN BIBI vs MUHAMMAD LATIF AND 2 OTHERS 1971 PLD Lahore 727