PHC stops construction of hotel on land owned by ex-Dir ruler

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday stopped construction of a hotel on the land of former ruler of Dir with the observation that there would be no construction or transfer of the land until the case was decided in the court regarding inheritance of his daughters in the property.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan and Justice Muhammad Ishtiaq Ibrahim stayed construction of a hotel on the land in the name of ex-ruler of Dir.The court put on notice the provincial government and other parties in the writ petition filed by Nawabzadi Badshah Sultana, the daughter of the ex-ruler of Dir.

The court sought reply from the provincial government to submit a detailed report as to why the daughters of the ex-rulers were deprived of their legal right to inheritance in the property. The daughter of former ruler of Dir, the late Shah Jehan Khan, had challenged the provincial government’s order that ousted his daughters from the list of legal heirs and deprived them of legal inheritance in the property.

Nawabzadi Badshah Sultana had filed a writ petition against the order of secretary Home and Tribal Affairs Department. The order was issued on May 2. It ousted the daughters of the late Nawab of Dir as legal heirs and distributed the property only among the sons of the former ruler.

On the previous hearing held on August 3, a division bench comprising Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Qalandar Ali Khan had suspended the provincial government’s order. It stayed transfer of land of the deceased former ruler of Dir to his sons and other persons till the next order of the court.

Abdus Samad Khan, counsel for the petitioner, submitted before the bench that despite the stay order of the court, a hotel was being constructed on the land, which was violation of court orders.About facts of the case, he submitted that first an order was passed on September 15, 1972 in which the property of the former ruler was transferred to the name of his three sons.

The lawyer said the daughters were ignored as legal heirs of the late Nawab of Dir, which was against the law. He argued that the subordinate courts had earlier rejected the claims of the daughters of late Nawab of Dir.