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ISLAMABAD:
The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) dismissed a petition seeking to enforce land mutations after a delay of more than one hundred years, ruling that tax authorities have no power to correct land records in cases involving extraordinary and unexplained delays or disputed claims.
A two-member bench, comprising Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Muhammad Karim Khan Agha, dismissed a petition filed by Faizullah Khan and others, while upholding the decision of the LHC, Multan Bench. The court said these matters can only be decided by a civil court.
The petitioners contended that their predecessors and certain pro forma respondents were owners of the disputed lands on the basis of mutations sanctioned in 1907 and 1913, which were approved on the basis of a decision of a competent civil court.
However, they argued, these mutations were never implemented in the rights register due to negligence on the part of the tax authorities and that there was now no legal impediment to their application.
The court was informed that the petitioners first approached the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue), Layyah, in 2020 to enforce the mutations, but their request was rejected. Later, the additional commissioner allowed the appeal and ordered the execution of the mutations.
However, the Punjab Board of Revenue, in a review proceeding, set aside that order and reinstated the decision of the additional deputy commissioner. Later, the LHC also dismissed the constitutional petition.
