Noor Muhammad V. Sajjad Akhtar and 3 Others,
PLJ 2017 Quetta 97 · Balochistan High Court
This case involved a dispute over two plots of land in Satellite Town, Turbat. Noor Muhammad claimed he had been legally allotted the plots in 1996, paid installments, built a boundary wall, and remained in peaceful possession. However, another individual, Sajjad Akhtar, filed a complaint before the Provincial Ombudsman (Mohtasib) of Balochistan on behalf of two other men, alleging that Noor Muhammad had illegally occupied the plots without authorization. Without giving Noor Muhammad any notice or conducting a proper investigation, the Ombudsman ordered that the plots be vacated from him and handed to the supposed rightful owners.
Noor Muhammad challenged this order in the Balochistan High Court, arguing that the Ombudsman lacked jurisdiction to decide what was essentially a civil property dispute involving factual questions of ownership, and that he was never heard before the order was passed. The respondents argued that an alternate remedy of appeal existed under the Ombudsman law, so the court petition wasn't maintainable.
The High Court ruled in favor of Noor Muhammad. It held that the Ombudsman's jurisdiction is limited, and where an order is made without jurisdiction or without following fair hearing principles, the constitutional court can still intervene despite the availability of an alternate remedy. Since the Ombudsman acted without notice and without proper inquiry, its order was void, and everything built upon it collapsed. The petition was accepted.
This case matters because it rein
یہ مقدمہ تربت کے سیٹلائٹ ٹاؤن میں واقع دو پلاٹوں کے تنازع سے متعلق تھا۔ نور محمد کا دعویٰ تھا کہ انہیں 1996 میں یہ پلاٹ قانونی طور پر الاٹ کیے گئے تھے، انہوں نے اقساط ادا کیں، چاردیواری تعمیر کی، اور پرامن طور پر ان پر قابض رہے۔ تاہم ایک اور شخص، سجاد اختر نے، دو دیگر افراد کی جانب سے بلوچستان کے صوبائی محتسب کے سامنے شکایت دائر کی، جس میں الزام لگایا گیا کہ نور محمد نے بغیر کسی اجازت کے ان پلاٹوں پر غیر قانونی قبضہ کر رکھا ہے۔ نور محمد کو کوئی نوٹس دیے بغیر اور کسی مناسب تحقیقات کے بغ