Law:

Section:

West Pakistan Land Revenue Act (XVII of 1967)-

----Ss. 135 & 172(2)---Partition of joint property---Any joint owner of land would be entitled for partition of his share in joint property---Where question of title had arisen, then either the Revenue Officer could himself take cognizance of the matter or refer the question to Civil Court---Persons who had purchased land after order of partition had been effected, would not be competent to raise the question of title, and jurisdiction of Civil Court could not be invoked---Question involved related to mode of partition and as such Civil Court had no jurisdiction to adjudicate upon the matter---Finding, of Courts below with regard to jurisdiction of Civil Courts was set aside and suit dismissed.

Under section 135 of the West Pakistan Land Revenue Act, 1967 any joint owner of land can apply to a Revenue Officer for partition of his share in a jointly held land and if his title was not denied by other co-sharers, then the Revenue Officer has to determine the mode of partition. However, if a question of title had arisen then either the Revenue Officer has to himself take cognizance of that objection under clause (xv i) of subsection (2) of section 172 of the West Pakistan Land Revenue Act, 1967 or stop the partition proceedings and refer the question of title to a Civil Court for determination. When the petitioner applied to the Revenue Officer for partition of his share, no such question of title had arisen. Even otherwise most of the plaintiffs of the suit having purchased land afterwards were not competent to raise the question of title of the petitioner herein over the suit land. They could at the most raise an objection on the mode of partition and that objection could conveniently be raised by them during actual partition proceedings before the authority which had to carry out partition at the spot in execution proceedings.