Facts of the case out of which this Constitutional petition has arisen are that Abdul Aziz s/o Ara Muhammad, father of the petitioner, submitted his claim for agricultural land abandoned in his native village in East Punjab, India after migration to Pakistan. The claim form was registered at S.No.6258/3289 in Tehsil Alipur, District Muzaffargarh. After the death of his father, as the area allotted to him had not been verified by the respondent, on his claim form in accordance with the provisions of section 29 of the Scheme, the petitioner started pursuing the matter by filing of an application in the nature of reminder to finalise the allotment of land against the abovementioned claim and during this interregnum the petitioner joined Pakistan Army. Thereafter it transpired that vide order dated 3-1-1982, the application filed by the petitioner was dismissed by the respondent on the ground that the said application has been filed after the repeal of the evacuee laws therefore the petitioner should seek his remedy before the Civil Court. It is this order which has been challenged in this Constitutional petition.
2.Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner contends that the respondent has illegally dismissed the application filed by the petitioner on the ground that the proceedings being not pending, no action can be taken on the basis of the application filed by the petitioner. According to the learned counsel as mentioned earlier, the claim had already been registered and verification of area was pending when the evacuee laws were repealed therefore it being pending proceedings, the respondent should have decided the application filed by the petitioner on merits. Mr. Hamid Ali Mirza, Advocate counsel for the respondent concedes the position taken by the learned counsel for the petitioner.
3. In view of the above, the impugned order is declared to be illegal and without lawful authority and the same is set aside. The result is that the application as well as the proceeding arising out of the claim filed by the petitioner's father shall be deemed to be pending for the purposes of the provisions of Settlement Laws and shall be adjudicated in accordance with law.
The matter is remanded to the learned Member, Board of Revenue, Chief Settlement Commissioner, Punjab who shall entrust the matter to the Court/authority of competent jurisdiction for decision of the matter in accordance with law. There shall be no order as to costs.