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Civil Petition for Special Leave to Appeal No K‑206 of 1974, decided. on, 13th March 1975.
(On appeal from the judgment and order of the High Court of Sind & Baluchistan, Karachi, dated 28-6-1974, in Constitution Petition No. 285 of 1969).
‑ Sched., para. 1 ‑Transfer of house‑Property in dispute given one specific number and area and described in Cantonment General Register as one house‑No other property existing bearing such number‑Benami contestant of transfer acknowledging transferee as his landlady and paying rent to lit', ‑Subsequent order of Settlement Authority remanding case for fresh inquiry, held, unjustified, likely to result in unnecessary harassment to transferee and waste of public time‑Remand order quashed.
Talmiz S. Burney, Advocate Supreme Court instructed by V. A. Kidwai, Advocate‑on‑Record for Petitioner.
Nemo for Respondents.
Date of hearing : 13th March i975.
The entire premises bearing No. 2.6/2,. situated in Hyderabad was transferred by drawing of lots under Settlement Scheme No. 5, to Mst. Chand Ilibi, respondent No. 1 in the year 1959. P. T. O. was issued to her on t‑1‑1960. One Abbas Ali contested the transfer and the matter went up to the Settlement Commissioner who upheld' the transfer in favour of Chand Bibi.
Part of the house was in occupation of Mirza Sultan Beg, the local, Manager of A. P. P. He acknowledged Chand Bibi as the owner of the house and on 28‑6‑1966 paid her Rs.1,683.58 as arrears of rent. Earlier he had converted the two rooms in his occupation into an office by making unauthorised construction. A notice was thereupon issued to Chand Bibi as owner of the house by the Cantonment Board objecting to the construc tion made without its permission. Respondent No. 1 thus came to know f the structural changes made in the house by Mirza Sultan Baig,
Earlier in 1965, Mirza Sultan Baig had informed the Settlement Authorities that evacuee shop bearing No. 276/2 in his occupation had not been disposed of so far whereupon the Additional Settlement Commissioner put the shop to auction and it was purchased by Ibne Ali, the deceased husband of Msr. Khatoon Begum, petitioner herein, for Rs.4,900. The purchase was, in fact, only a benami transaction for the benefit of Mirza Sultan Baig as an agreement bad already been executed between them for sale of the shop to the former for Rs.12,500. A P. T. O. and P. T. D. were also issued in the name of Ibne Ali.
As mentioned above when Mst. Chand Bibi came to know about the conversion of the two rooms in the occupation of Mirza Sultan Baig, she made inquiries whereupon she learnt about the auction sale in favour of ibne Ali. She then filed an appeal before the Additional Settlement Commissioner who, on a detailed inquiry, found that the so‑called auction was a 'Managed Show' as in fact, the whole house including the portion converted into a shop stood transferred to Mst. Chand Bibi in 1959. The P. 'T. O. and P. T. D. issued in the name of Ibne Ali were, on these findings, cancelled. The latter thereupon filed a revision petition before the Settlement Commissioner who set aside the order of the Additional Settlement Commissioner and remanded the case for fresh inquiry. Mst. Chand Bibi filed a writ petition in the High Court challenging the legality of the order which has been allowed and order of the Settlement Commissioner set aside, as without lawful authority. The petitioner seeks leave to appeal from the order of the High Court.
On hearing the learned counsel and perusing the record, we are in agreement with the High Court that premises No. 276/2 was a house and the whole of it was transferred to Mst. Chand Bibi in 1959. It is entered in the General Register of the Hyderabad Cantonment as one house bearing No. 276/2 and comprising an area of 1404 sq. ft. 1 here was no other property bearing No. 276/2 which could be the subject‑matter of separate disposal by auction in favour of Ibne Ali. It is also significant that Mirza A Sultan Baig who is in occupation of the disputed part of the house had acknowledged Mst. Chand Bibi as the owner of the house and paid to her Rs.1,683.58 as arrears of rent by a Bank Draft. There was thus no justification for directing a further inquiry in the case which would have resulted in unnecessary harassment of respondent No. 1 and waste of public time.
The petition for special leave to appeal is dismissed.
Petitioner dismissed.
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