Man fined for grabbing uncle’s property, dragging case for 31 years

LAHORE:The Lahore High Court has imposed a fine of Rs200,000 on a petitioner for dragging a widow and her minor son in frivolous litigation for 31 years in order to deprive them of their inherited property.

Ilyas was in possession of a property at the time of the death of his uncle Ghulam Muhammad in 1989 and he started a first round of litigation against his uncle’s widow Mumtaz Begum and her son to deprive them of their inherited property. However, he never denied the relationship between Mumtaz Begum and his deceased uncle and kept on enjoying the possession of property but faced defeat in every round of litigation.

In order to extend his illegal possession, he came up with a new stance in 2017 and denied the husband and wife relationship between his uncle and Mumtaz Begum and alleged that she had an illicit relationship with one Siddique and had an illegitimate child.

The court observed that in every round of litigation the relationship of the respondents with original transferee and devolving of the suit house in their favour via inheritance was never denied, rather admitted in clear terms.

It is a well-settled principle that admission once made can never be withdrawn at any subsequent stage. The petitioner in the latest round of litigation was stopped to develop a different stance other than the one already confirmed before the court. The petitioner levelled the allegation of illicit relationship just to prolong his unauthorised possession and entangled the real owners in baseless litigation. Such practice should be condemned; otherwise, the courts will be more burdened day by day with frivolous litigation under the heap whereof the real issues are also prolonged.

It is noted that the petitioner during trial clearly defied the modesty of an elderly widow, which also undermined the personality of her son, while calling him illegitimate child and for it they have each and every right to independently proceed under the law against the petitioner.