Law: Displaced Persons (Land Settlement) Act, 1958

Section: 25, 16 , 15

Displaced Persons (Land Settlement) Act (XLVII of 1958) Ss. 25, 16 & 15-Provision of S. 16 operative only when land permanently settled on allottee under S. 15(3)-Land held by, allottee, subject-matter of revision pending before Settlement Commissioner-Pro vision of S. 16 not attracted-A fortiorari provision of S. 25 applicable and civil Courts have no jurisdiction to deal with disputes regarding such land. Section 16 of the Land Settlement Act, 1958, comes into operation only when land has been permanently settled on an allottee under section 15(3). Under rule 7 of the Displaced Persons (Land Settlement) Rules, 1959, a displaced person to whom any land has been allotted under a scheme shall subject to the proviso to subsection (3) of section 15 be deemed to have been permanently settled on the land so allotted to him with effect from the 24th day of December 1964, or the date of the confirmation of the allotment whichever date is later, provided that the allottee has paid settlement fees as required by rule 10. Where civil suits were instituted in respect of land against A, Y and Z who were allottees of the land but the land was still the subject-matter of a revision petition pending before a Settle ment Commissioner, it was held that A, Y and Z could not in the circumstance be said to be permanently settled on the land so as to attract the provision of section 16. A fortiorari, it was held, the Settlement Commissioner had the exclusive jurisdiction to deal with dispute of civil nature concerning such land and the jurisdiction of civil Courts was barred under section 25.   JUDGMENT MUHAMMAD YAQUD ALI, J.-These pauper appeals arise out of two civil suits one filed by Sardar Muhammad, respondent, in Civil Appeal No. 204 of 1969 and the other by Muhammad Anwar, respondent, in Civil Appeal No. 205 of 1969 against the appellants herein in the Court of Civil Judge, Multan. A common prayer was made in both the suits that the order of the Settlement Commissioner dated the 19th November 1965, modifying the mutation of inheritance of Allah Bakhsh, a displaced person from Punjab (India), settled in Chak No. 475/E. B., Tehsil Vehari, district Multan, was illegal,…