August 27, 2008	Wednesday	Sha'aban 24, 1429

KARACHI, Aug 26: Justice Nadeem Azhar Siddiqui of the Sindh High Court on Tuesday appointed the deputy registrar judicial of the SHC to inspect a disputed suit property situated in Bin Qasim Town.

The plaintiff, Rukaiya Rafiq, had moved the court against defendants Mst Bilquis Ismail, Mohammad Afzal, Mohammad Akram, secretary land utilisation department, Sindh Board of Revenue, DCO Karachi, district officer (Revenue), deputy district officer (Revenue) and the Mukhtiarkar of Bin Qasim Town.

Plaintiff’s counsel submitted that his client had purchased a land situated in Survey No. 70 in Deh Khento, Tapo Landhi, Bin Qasim Town, from Mst Bilquis on Nov 24, 1998 vide Sale Deed Registration No. 134 of Agricultural Land Karachi, East.

In 1960s, some ghuntas (one ghunta is equal to 0.03 acres) of the suit property was required under the Land Acquisition Act for the purpose of road widening. As per the demarcation plan, land measured five acres and 23 ghuntas after acquisition.

But some documents continued to show it as five acres and 31 ghuntas. In 2006, the plaintiff came to know Afzal and Akram claiming to be the nephews and legal heirs of Bilquis and offered to sell this suit property.

In a letter dated April 6, 2007 to the plaintiff, the DDO (Revenue) Bin Qasim Town informed that some persons were seeking mutation of the suit property.

They also showed Bilquis as deceased and tried to get the record of property’s rights changed in their names. They approached the DO (Revenue), who passed an order on July 28, 2008 saying, that record be changed in names of Afzal and Akram, legal heirs of Bilsquis Ismail, in an open Jalsa-e-Aam and an NOC for sale be issued.

The plaintiff’s counsel submitted that both Afzal and Akram had obtained the NOC for the sale of suit property fraudulently from the revenue authority by showing his client as dead while she was still alive. He also argued that the revenue authority could not adjudicate, devide title within the exclusive domain of a civil court.

After hearing the arguments, the court issued notices to the defendants and directed the parties to maintain status quo with regard to the suit property.—PPI