' This Constitution petition was filed by the Chief Protocol Officer in the office of Counsel-General of Republic of Sudan to challenge the order dated 21-9-1992 passed by the Deputy Registrar Cooperatives, Lahore Division, Lahore under section 44-E of the Cooperative Societies Act, 1925 so far it relates to attachment/sealing of premises of Jan Nuhammad Textile Mills Limited i,e, G-10, Gulberg-III, Lahore.
2. The factual pleas taken in the petition are that on 22-9-1992 the Assistant Registrar, Cooperative Department accompanied with a Magistrate sealed Bungalow No,G-10, Gulberg-III, Lahore where presently the office of honorary Counsel-General is located in pursuance to the above-noted order of the Deputy Registrar of Cooperatives, Lahore though the registered office of the said Textile Mills was shifted from the said bungalow to 33-Ahmed Block, New Garden Town, Lahore. It is added that intimation of shifting of the registered office of Jan Muhammad Textile Mills was given on 16-6-92 to the Registrar of Companies by submitting the requisite form under section 142 of the Companies Ordinance, 1984. Learned Advocate-General on behalf of the Cooperative Department and the respondents officers submitted that Mr. Irfan Hamid who has statedly been appointed as honorary Counsel General of Republic of Sudan is one of the Directors of Jan Muhammad Textile Mills Limited and in other Cooperative Societies against which proceedings under section 50-A of the Cooperative Societies Act are pending. Notices have also been issued to Mr. Irfan Hamid under Ordinance XXXI of 1992 and that in order to secure the interest of depositors action under law was taken against Mr. Irfan Hamid' as there are serious allegations of misappropriation and defalcation of properties of societies. It is added that registered office of Jan Muhammad Textile Mills Limited was located in Bungalow No,G-10, GulbergIII, Lahore and that the same address of said Mill was given in the writ petition filed by Mr. Irfan Hamid in the High Court in July, 1992. Learned counsel for the petitioner, in reply, submitted that Bungalow No,G-10, Gulberg-III, Lahore was rented out to Counsellate in July, 1992. A copy of the rent note (undated) has been placed on record according to which the possession of the bungalow in question was taken over by the Counsellate on 1-7- 1992. The stamp paper of the rent note seems to have been purchased on 20-7-1992.
3. It may be noted at this stage that on 29-9-1992 on offer of the petitioner bungalow in-question (G-10, Gulberg-III), Lahore) was inspected by the Deputy Registrar, Cooperatives respondent No,2 and admittedly no record pertaining to Jan Muhmmad Textile Mills Limited was found therein. The sale-deed in respect of the bungalow in question produced on record shows that the said bungalow belongs to one Rashid Akhtar son of Haji Ghulam Muhammad. The property apparently does not belong to Mr. Irfan Hamid though the allegation is that this bungalow is owned by Irfan Hamid benami. Be that as it may presently as well as at the time of passing of the order under section 44-E, there was no material with respondents to presume that the bungalow in question was owned by Mr. Irfan Hamid or by Jan Muhammad Textile Mills Limited or any other society in which Irfan Hamid has any beneficial interest. Moreover, a perusal of the impugned order shows that the intention was to seal registered office of Jan Muhammad Textile Mills Limited. These premises were considered to be the bungalow in question as it was once the registered office of the Textile Mills. Admittedly, even on inspection, nothing pertaining to Jan Muhammad Textile Mills Limited was found in the said bungalow. The shifting of registered office of Textile Mills has taken place and an intimation in this regard has also been submitted to the Registrar of the Companies.
3-A. The Cooperative Department apparently has nothing to do with the question of suitability or otherwise of Mr. Irfan Hamid to be appointed as honorary Counsel-General of Sudan. This was the matter which should have been taken notice of by the Foreign Office while conveying their concurrence to his nomination or even now it will be for the Sudani Government to consider whether continuance of Mr. Irfan Hamid in the circumstances noted above will be beneficial for the purpose of promoting brotherly relations between the countries. These matters neither can be considered by this Court nor by the Deputy Registrar, Cooperative Department while exercising powers under section 44-E of the Cooperative Societies Act.
4. The crux of the matter is that the premises in question (G-10, Gulberg-III, Lahore) is presently the office of Honorary Counsel-General of Republic of Sudan. The Hon'ble Ambassador has owned the premises in question as office of the Honorary Counsel-General and that position is to be accepted by the Authorities acting under the law as there is otherwise no material before the Cooperative Department to hold that the said premises (G-10, Gulberg-III, Lahore) continues to be used as registered office of Jan Muhammad Textile Mills Limited.
' In these circumstances, the order dated 21-9-1992 passed by the Deputy Registrar, Cooperative Department to the extent that it directs sealing of premises, that is, G-10 Gulberg-III, Lahore is declared to have been passed without lawful authority and of no legal effect. The petition is, therefore, accepted in the above terms. The parties are left to bear their own costs.