01 / ANALYSIS
Overview of the Case
This Regular Second Appeal under Section 100 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, arose from a suit for declaration and cancellation of an inheritance mutation sanctioned in 1952 under the settlement laws. Furthermore, the Court held that the suit was barred by limitation, waiver, and acquiescence, as the predecessor had knowledge of the mutation but did not challenge it during her lifetime, and her heirs delayed filing for 21 years after her death.
02 / ANALYSIS
Brief Facts
Karam Bakhsh died before Partition, leaving two sons, Abdul Ghafoor and Majeed, and a daughter, Ghafooran Bibi. Abdul Ghafoor inherited land under the then prevailing customary arrangements but died without children during the 1947 migration. A subsequent settlement-related inheritance mutation was sanctioned in 1952, without recording Ghafooran Bibi's claimed share. After Ghafooran Bibi's death, her legal heirs instituted a suit in June 2009 seeking cancellation of that mutation and later entries, possession and other relief. The litigation concerned family succession, the settlement record and a challenge brought many decades after the disputed mutation.
03 / ANALYSIS
Questions of Law
- Does the repeal of the Pakistan Administration of Evacuee Property Act 1957 remove the bar on the jurisdiction of Civil Courts regarding orders passed during its operation?
- Can a claim of inheritance be barred by limitation, waiver, and acquiescence if the predecessor-in-interest failed to challenge the mutation during her lifetime?
04 / ANALYSIS
The Court's Answers
Does the repeal of the Pakistan Administration of Evacuee Property Act 1957 remove the bar on the jurisdiction of Civil Courts regarding orders passed during its operation?
Answer. No. The repeal of the relevant settlement legislation did not necessarily remove the continuing jurisdictional bar over orders made under it.
“In another authoritative judgment, while discussing the effect of Evacuee Property and Displace Person Laws (Repeal) Act, 1975 through which the Displaced Persons (Land Settlement) Act, 1958 and the Pakistan (Administration of Evacuee Property) Act stood repealed, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has settled the issue that irrespective of the repeal, the bar against the exercise of jurisdiction by the Civil Court, as supplied in the repealed laws, shall continue.”
Can a claim of inheritance be barred by limitation, waiver, and acquiescence if the predecessor-in-interest failed to challenge the mutation during her lifetime?
Answer. Yes. An inheritance claim may still be defeated by limitation, waiver or acquiescence on the particular facts.
“The above makes it abundantly clear that neither the question of limitation may be ignored in every claim based on purported rights of inheritance nor it is permissible for the litigants to lay a statute barred challenge by couching the relief in the form of an inheritance claim.”
05 / ANALYSIS
Practical Relevance
Before challenging an old inheritance entry, parties should establish who sanctioned it, under which law, when the claimant learned of it and whether the correct forum has jurisdiction. An inheritance label does not automatically defeat limitation.