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Government of Balochistan, Industries Department V. Muhammad Yousaf and others,

CLC 2018 396 · Balochistan High Court

This case involved a long-running dispute over compensation for land acquired by the Balochistan government to build a rainwater drain in Hub. In 2001, a civil judge set the compensation rate, which was later increased by the High Court in 2008. The government appealed to the Supreme Court, but that appeal was dismissed in 2015 for being filed too late, and a subsequent review petition was also dismissed in 2016.

Meanwhile, the landowners had already filed an execution application back in 2000 to recover the compensation, but it was put on hold because the Supreme Court had issued a stay on the judgment while the appeal was pending. After the Supreme Court finally dismissed the appeal and review, the landowners filed a fresh execution application in 2016. The government argued this was filed too late and objected to the execution process.

The Balochistan High Court rejected the government's objections. It held that since the first execution application had been pending and was only adjourned due to the Supreme Court's stay order, and since there was no evidence that the stay was lifted before the final 2015 decision, the new execution application was filed within the legal time limit. Relying on earlier Supreme Court precedents, the court ruled that the execution proceedings were valid and dismissed the government's appeal, meaning the landowners could proceed to recover their compensation.

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