ORDERSHEET
IN THE HIGH COURT OF SINDH BENCH AT SUKKUR
Civil Revision
No. 33 of 2006
________________________________________________________________
DATE ORDER
WITH SIGNATURE OF JUDGE ______________________________________________________________________
1.
For orders on CMA 142/2006.
2.
For orders on CMA 527/2007.
3.
For katchapeshi.
30-10-2017.
Mr.
Raj Kumar D. Rajput Advocate for Applicants.
Mr.
UbedullahMalano Advocate for respondents Nos. 1
and
2.
Mr.
Munawar Ali Maitlo State Counsel.
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The instant revision has
been filed against the concurrent findings of the Courts below where the suit
filed by the present applicants being F.C Suit No. 6 of 2002 was dismissed when
it was challenged by an application made under order VII Rule 11 CPC filed by
the respondents. Understandably, the appellate Court also upheld the decision
of the trial Court.
The controversy at hand
infactarose from the suit No.02/1987filed by the applicants challenging the
title of the defendants. In that first round of litigation, the trial Court by
its judgment dated 02.08.1988 after giving cogent reasons came to the
conclusion that the claim of the plaintiff was devoid of any legal character as
he admittedly stated that he was Hari of the suit land thus not entitled to the
ownership of the suit land. The present applicant while challenged the said
outcome of the trial Court where the appellate Court through judgment dated 21.3.1992
upheld the findings of the trial Court, it is pertinent to mention that no
revision was preferred against the said appellate Court’s order passed in Civil
Appeal No.66/1988.
The grievance of the
applicant as louded before me is that he was “forcibly” dispossessed by the
respondents after the pronouncement of trial Court’s judgment dated 02.08.1988.
Applicant’s counsel submitted that while the applicant took pain of filing the initialsuit
(which was decided against him),however it were the defendnats/respondents who
reaped benefit thereof, thus they had no legal grounds to take over possession
of the suit land as well as when he
filed the second round of litigation against the said “illegal dispossession”
through civil suit No.06/2002 he complained that his second move was abruptly rejected
by an application made by the respondents under order VII rule 11 CPC. Counsel
submits that since the applicant always enjoyed the possession, therefore, there
was no ground to handover possession of the suit land to the respondents.Counsel
placed reliance on 2011 CLC page 907 Karachi, P L D 2009 Karachi 38 and PLJ
2001 SC 1398 suggesting that the second round of litigation could not have been
simply rejected on the ground of resjudicata. Learned counsel for the
respondents submitted that the controversy with regard to the suit land was in
fact decided by the first round of litigation where the plaintiff admitted that
he was in possession of the suit land merely as aHari, therefore, Court could not
grant title to him as under section 42 of the specific Relief Act, his prayer
was devoid of any legal character, which was rightly held soby the trial Court
in the first round of litigation.
Heard the parties,
reviewed the material. It is interesting to see that the plaintiff who had
approached the Court in 1987 through FC Suit No.2 of 1987 with no legal title
is continuously pressing for the possession of the suit land notwithstanding
that time and again Courts have held that the applicants/plaintiffs had no
title or ownership of the suit land;that his claim has no legal character,and that
the suit land for which entries have been legitly recordedin the revenue
records inthe names of the respondents despite lapse of litigation spreading over
30 years have received no dent. The case law referred by the counsel was shown
to be irrelevant and did not support the contention of the learned counsel with
specific reference to the facts of the case in hand.
The perusal of both the
judgments of the Court below shows that the subject matter and the grounds
taken in the first civil suit as well as in civil appeal are the same grounds
on which the plaintiff filed the second round of litigation through his
attorney Atta Muhammad Soomro; that too against the same defendants. Section 11
of CPC provides that no court shall try any suit or issue in which the matter
directly and substantially an issue in a former suit between the same parties
or between the parties under whom they or any of them claim litigating under
the same title, in a court competent to try such subsequent suit or the suit in
which such issue has been subsequently raised has been heard and finally
decided by such court.
As stated above, this round
of litigation is filed by the same plaintiff against the same defendants
agitating the same subject matter which has been decided in the Civil Suit
No.2/1987 and in the appeal No.66/1988.The present proceedings are clearly barred
by section 11 CPC. Reliance is placed on 2000 SCMR 1171 and PLD 2003 Lahore 48.
With regards transfer of the possession of the suit land from plaintiff to the
defendants, it was naturaloutcome of the trial Courts judgment, thus cannot be
termed illegal on any account.
It is also well settled
law and pre-requisite condition of clauses (a) and (d) rule 11 of order 7 CPC
that a Court is bound to reject a plaint where the plaint does not disclose
cause of action or where the suit appears to be prima facie barred by any law
in such circumstances (Reliance is placed on PLD 1997 Karachi 292, 1991 CLC
149, PLD 1979 SC 821 and 1989 MLD 451). The
plaintiff in his averments in the suit had admitted that land in dispute was
purchased by Farzand Hussain an allottee, but subsequently it was cancelled and
was placed in the provincial Government Pool to be disposed off by the Barrage
department under existing land grant policy. This omission itself shows that
the plaintiff had no legal character to file a declaratory suit as required U/S
42 of Specific Relief Act, which provides that personsentitled to any legal
character or to any rights as to any property could only institute a suit
against any person denying his title to such character or right.Which is not the
case at hand for the applicant. Undoubtedly the plaint of the suit filed by the
plaintiffswas hit by section 11 CPC and Section 42 of Specific Relief Act and
when any suit is hit by the provisions of any law, the plaint is liable for
rejection. Hence the trial Court rightly allowed the application U/O 7 Rule 11
CPC filed by the defendants Nos. 1 and 2 and rejected the plaint.
For the above reasons, the
instant revision filed against the concurrent findings had very narrow scope nonetheless
from its inception.No illegality has been seen in the Judgment
impugned as the Courtsbelow have applied
judicious mind in declaring the instant
second round of litigation legitlybarred under section 11 .CP.C. I therefore
find no reasons to interferein the judgments of the courts below, this revision
application is accordingly dismissed but with no orders as to costs.
JUDGE
Irfan/PA.