Police officers walk past Pakistan’s Supreme Court building, in Islamabad, Pakistan, April 6, 2022. REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ruled that a land grab dispute does not end with the death of the accused and ordered the Peshawar High Court to retry the matter in accordance with the law.
As per the detailed judgment for reporting officially approved by the court, the Supreme Court partially set aside the ruling of the Peshawar High Court in Abbottabad dated March 21, 2022 and ordered fresh examination of the issue of restoration of possession of the disputed lands.
Justice Ahsan Ishtiaq Ibrahim authored the judgment on behalf of the three-member court, observing that illegal occupation of land is a matter that does not end with a criminal conviction, as its civil consequences continue. Therefore, even after the death of the accused, the remedy of restitution of possession remains maintainable.
The complainant, advocate Muhammad Khurshid Khan, had filed a case under the Unlawful Dispossession Act, 2005, alleging illegal occupation of his 11-marla property. In 2015, the trial court sentenced the accused, Dost Muhammad Khan, to three years in prison, but released him on parole due to his age and health, while ordering him to return to possession of the land within a month. Four co-defendants were acquitted.
While the appeal was pending, Dost Muhammad Khan died, resulting in the automatic quashing of the appeal against the prison sentence. However, the Supreme Court held that the issue of restitution of possession is still alive in law and cannot be ignored.
The apex court noted that the 2005 Act is a special law that provides landowners with immediate protection and an effective mechanism to claim possession.
