Law: Pakistan (Administration of Evacuee Property) Act, 1957

Section: XII,25(2)(I)

Law: Limitation Act, 1908

Section: 25(2)(s)

Law: Specific Relief Act (I of 1877)

Section: IX,19

Pakistan (Administration of Evacuee Property) Act (XII of 1957)-------Ss.25(2)(l) & 25(2)(s)---Limitation Act (IX of 1908), S.19 & First Sched. Art. 148---Specific Relief Act (I of 1877), Ss.42 & 54--- Declaration of title--Redemption of land mortgaged to a non-Muslim lady, who left the country at the time of partition in the year 1947---Non-issuance of notice to mortgagor to redeem the property---Effect---Limitation period, commencement of---Possession of the petitioners was not disputed---Federal Government terming the suit property as evacuee property transferred it in favour of Federal Government and then to a person respectively, who later on transferred it in favour of predecessor of respondents---Mortgage came to knowledge of the petitioners, when predecessor of the respondents instituted a suit against petitioners alleging to be the owners of the suit property, which prompted the petitioners to file a declaratory suit for redemption of the suit property---Trial Court dismissed the suit treating it to be barred by time under Art. 148 of Limitation Act, 1908---Appellate Court upheld the judgment and decree of Trial Court on the ground that it was not clear that non-Muslim lady had left the country after 1947, therefore, petitioners were required to have asked for redemption of the property within a period of sixty years---Validity---Such determination of the Appellate Court was completely against the record and did not have any relevance to the present controversy for the reason that if such argument of the Appellate Court was accepted then there was no occasion for the Federal Government to have declared the suit property as evacuee and transferred it in the year, 1990, therefore, Appellate Court had dismissed the appeal on wrong premises--Powers under S.25(2)(l) of Pakistan (Administration of Evacuee Property) Act, 1957, were delegated to the Deputy Rehabilitation and Assistant Rehabilitation Commissioner to issue notice to local mortgagors to redeem the property within one month failing which the property would be liable to be auctioned under S.25(2) (s) of the Act, but the petitioners were not given any notice, as such, from the…