Ex-Parte Proceedings in a Civil Suit
PLJ 2012 · Lahore High Court (Multan Bench)
This case comes from the Lahore High Court, Multan Bench, and deals with a dispute over property partition. The respondents had filed a suit to divide property they jointly owned with the petitioner, Zubaida Begum, who was named as a co-sharer in the case. She did not appear in court, and proceedings went ahead without her (ex-parte) starting in 1998. A preliminary decree was issued in 2004, which protected her share of the property. However, it was only in 2010, about 12 years after being declared ex-parte, that she filed an application asking the court to set aside those ex-parte proceedings, claiming she never received proper notice.
Both the trial court and the appellate court rejected her application because it was filed far too late. She then approached the High Court through a civil revision petition, also asking for condonation of a short delay in filing that revision, which the court allowed in the interest of justice.
On the main issue, however, the High Court ruled against her. It noted that her share in the property had already been protected in the preliminary decree, and since the property could not be physically divided, an auction had been ordered with her entitled to receive her share of the proceeds. Given the enormous 12-year delay in challenging the ex-parte order, the court held that the lower courts were right to dismiss her case as time-barred. The revision petition was therefore dismissed, reinforcing that legal challenges must be made within a reasonable time, even when rights are otherwise valid.
یہ مقدمہ لاہور ہائی کورٹ، ملتان بنچ سے تعلق رکھتا ہے اور جائیداد کی تقسیم کے ایک تنازع سے متعلق ہے۔ مدعا علیہان نے اس جائیداد کی تقسیم کے لیے دعویٰ دائر کیا تھا جس کی وہ درخواست گزار زبیدہ بیگم کے ساتھ مشترکہ مالک تھے، اور زبیدہ بیگم کو اس مقدمے میں ہم شریک (co-sharer) کے طور پر فریق بنایا گیا تھا۔ وہ عدالت میں پیش نہ ہوئیں، اور 1998 سے یہ کارروائی ان کی عدم موجودگی میں (ex-parte) جاری رہی۔ 2004 میں ایک ابتدائی ڈگری جاری کی گئی جس میں ان کے حصے کا تحفظ کیا گیا تھا۔ تاہم، صرف 2010 میں، یعنی ایکس پارٹی قرار دیے جانے کے تقریباً 12 سال بعد، انہوں نے عدالت میں درخواست دائر کی جس میں یہ ایکس پارٹی کارروائی کالعدم قرار دینے کی استدعا کی گئی تھی، اور یہ دعویٰ کیا گیا تھا کہ انہیں مناسب نوٹس کبھی موصول نہیں ہوا۔
ٹرائل کورٹ اور اپیلیٹ کورٹ، دونوں نے ان کی درخواست اس بنیاد پر مسترد کر دی کہ یہ بہت تاخیر س