ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) issued a stay order in favour of legal heirs in a property case on Friday, halting the execution of a decree secured through alleged fraud and misrepresentation.

IHC Judge Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani took up a case revolving around a dispute over prime real estate, including 122 kanals of land situated in the vicinity of Faizabad.

During the preliminary hearing of the petition on Friday, the legal heirs of the late Syed Shujat Ali Naqvi, who passed away at the age of 107 a couple of years back, contested a court ruling regarding their ancestral property.

The petitioners claimed that a fraudulent agreement was used to “unlawfully acquire their ancestral property”, valued at billions of rupees.

According to the petition, the dispute emerged when Imran Pervez, the main respondent, allegedly obtained a fraudulent judgment from a civil court on July 27, 2023, allegedly based on a falsified agreement.

The petitioners contended that their predecessor was neither informed nor served proper legal notice regarding the lawsuit.

The petitioner’s counsel Kashif Ali Malik highlighted that no legal notice was ever served on Syed Shujat Ali Naqvi, who was 107 years old at the time the case was being heard.

As per the petition, “A lawyer named Zeeshan Abbasi allegedly appeared in court on behalf of Naqvi, without his knowledge or consent, and submitted a conceding written statement, paving the way for an ex-parte decision in favour of the respondent”.

The alleged agreement to sell the property, dated October 22, 2020, was neither properly verified nor was any documentary proof of payment submitted to the court, the petition pointed out.

“The court decree was secured in haste, without requiring personal attendance or evidence of financial transactions,” it added.

The signatures of the late Syed Shujat Ali Naqvi on the agreement were forged, the petitioners claimed and said, forensic verification could prove this.

“On September 1, 2023, just months before his passing at the age of 107, Mr Naqvi personally appeared in court to deny the existence of any such agreement and refute any involvement with the lawyer who had represented him without authorisation.”

The civil court had temporarily suspended the judgment, but on February 17, 2025, it ultimately dismissed the petitioners’ challenge, prompting them to file the present civil revision plea.

The legal heirs, now represented by Syed Jaffar Abbas Naqvi, are seeking the court’s intervention to overturn the previous judgment and decree.

Published in Dawn, February 22nd, 2025