1. MUHAMMAD AFZAL ZULLAH, J.--Leave to appeal has been sought from judgment, dated 26-3-1986 of the Lahore High Court; whereby petitioners' Regular Second Appeal arising out of a land inheritance, case, was dismissed.
2. One Maula Bakhsh who owned the land in dispute died before 1948 leaving a widow Mehr Bano. The land was given to her as life estate. She remarried and the land then went to Mst. Gulab Bano an unmarried daughter of Mauls. Bakhsh. She married in 1954 whereupon mutation o' inheritance of Maula Bakhsh was sanctioned in favour of the widow, daughter anal his sister. The petitioners who are collaterals of Maula Bakhsh contested this distribution in inheritance by a suit, it was decreed by the trial Court. In appeal it was held that the daughter, keeping in view the custom of the parties, was better entitled to inherit. The High Court has, however, treated this aspect as irrelevant and decided the case on the basis of West Pakistan Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Act (Amendment)
3. Ordinance (No. XIII) of 1983 and observed as follows: "Section 2-A (of the Ordinance) deals with "succession prior to the Act IX of 1948". Admittedly, Maula Bakhsh died prior to the enforcement of the said Act when still Custom was applicable to him. By virtue of this provision he shall be deemed to have had acquired the land from his own father under Muslim Personal Law (Shariat). This is what the enacting portion of section 2-A as also clause
(a) thereof when read together provide for."
4. This interpretation is in line with the judgment of this Court in Abdul Ghafoor and others v.
5. Muhammad Shafi and others PLD 1985 SC 407 wherein, it has been held that the Amending Ordinance of 1983 has completed retrospective effect. That being so, Maula Bakhsh would be deemed to have inherited the property under Muslim Law and therefore 113 his inheritance would be governed by the same law. Hence, no justification has been made out for interference with the impugned judgment which is unexceptionable. This petition is dismissed.