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1986 MLD 1431

Mst. AMEER FATIMA vs KARACHI CANTONMENT BOARD and 5 others

Citation1986 MLD 1431
CourtSindh High Court
Case No.Constitutional Petition No,D-227 of 1983
Date1986-04-01
Judge(s)Mamoon Kazi, Muhammad Zahoor-ul-Haq
ResultPetition dismissed

' MUHAMMAD ZAHOORUL HAQ, J.- The petitioner has felt aggrieved against the decision of the Cantonment Board to allot the shop to respondents Nos.4 and 5 in the newly-constructed shops on Katrak Road

2. The relevant facts are that the petitioner's husband had a cabin on Katrak Road which was demolished for construction of pucca shops in 1957 and he was allowed to occupy a cabin on Sangster Road Nullah. Thereafter Shop No,7 was allotted to the son of the petitioner, namely, Masood Ahmed son of Muhammad Naqi.

' The petitioner is alleged to have continued occupying the cabin on Sangster Road.

3. In 1982 the Cantonment Board again decided to construct certain shops and directed the removal of the cabin on Sangster Road.

4. It is the case of the petitioner that she has continued in occupation of the said cabin and has paid rent of the same to the Cantonment Board. On 22-1-1982 the Karachi Cantonment Board issued notice to Mst. Ameer Fatima as holder of Cabin No,6 to remove her cabin from Nullah and to pay the outstanding dues of Rs,1,532. She was, however, given the option to obtain a cabin on hire from the board after the construction.

' The petitioner is alleged to have paid Rs,607 to the Cantonment Board and she obtained an identity card on 1-1-1983, as temporary occupier of a temporary cabin on Katrak Nullah which had since been demolished.

' It, however, appears that the respondents Nos. 4 and 5 had meanwhile interfered and they had sought the allotment of newly-constructed Shop No,6 and the petitioner came to know of the same and, therefore, she wrote a letter on 27-1-1983 to the Cantonment Board asking that she had the right of getting the allotment of the new shop as she was in possession of the Cabin all along.

5. On 8-2-1983 the Cantonment Board directed the petitioner to appear on 13-2-1983 with all relevant documents she possessed basing claim on cabin No,6.

6. The meeting of the Board was held where it was decided that Mst. Ameer Fatima not being found in possession of the cabin an respondents Nos. 4 and 5 having been found in possession of the cabin the new Shop No,6 should be allotted to respondents Nos. 4 an 5.

7. The petitioner felt aggrieved and hence this petition.

8. Mr. Mubarak Hussain Siddiqui submitted that the petitioner ha all along been in possession of the cabin and that it was her right to get the possession of Shop No,6 in lieu of the Cabin. He relied upon section 269 of the Cantonment Act which allows the cancellation of a licence on breach of the conditions contained therein apart from the other penalty that the licensee incurs. However, there is a proviso to the said section which requires the Cantonment Board to issue notice to the licensee before cancelling the same. Mr. Mubarak has submitted that the petitioner's licence has been cancelled without opportunity having been granted to her to make out her case against the cancellation of the licence.

' The submission appears to be merely technical inasmuch as the letter of Cantonment Board, dated 8-2-1983 had clearly required the petitioner to produce all the documents before the board upon which she was basing her claim of Cabin No,6. The petitioner had herself written in her letter of 27-1-1983 where it was clearly indicated that Muhammad Rafiq was employed by her as shoe- making business worker. She was, therefore, conscious of the opposition which was given to her claim from the respondent and in that light she should have produced all the documents or all the evidence which she had in respect of her possession before the Cantonment Board. The petitioner did not appear herself before the board but sent her son Masood Ahmed who is already an allottee of Shop No,7.

9. We have seen the proceedings of the Cantonment Board produce by Mr. Abdul Sattar where the members of the Cantonment Board have taken the view that nothing was shown to them which could establis that Mst. Ameer Fatima had been in actual possession of the cabin I question.

10. That being the position and the matter of possession of the cabin being a question of fact we do not find any justification t interfere in the findings of the Cantonment Board.

' It would have been a different positioning if the petitioner had not been issued a notice to prove her claim in respect of Cabin No,6 but since she was given an opportunity to prove her claim and she has not been able to establish her claim to the complete satisfaction of the Cantonment Board it is not possible for us to interfere in the decision.

11. Consequently, this petition is dismissed.

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