| Citation(s) |
|---|
| 2026 SLD 3148 = 2026 LHC 4397 |
Civil Revision No.30580 of 2019
Presented By: (Muhammad Sajid Mehmood Sethi) Judge
Date of hearing: 30.06.2026. Petitioners by: M/s. Barrister Fasih-ur-Rehman, Malik Asif Iqbal, Ahmad Asfand Yar and Noor Dad Chaudhry, Advocates.
Respondents by: Ch. Manzar Bashir, Advocate (for respondent No.1).
Respondents No.2 to 4 & 6 ex parte.
Riaz Ahmad Khan (deceased) through Legal Heirs & others
VERSUS
Rafique Ahmad Khan & others
Law: Code Of Civil Procedure, 1908.
Section: 96, 115, 31
Tagline
First Appellate Court – Duty to Independently Reappraise Evidence – Order XLI Rule 31 CPC – Mechanical Affirmation of Trial Court Judgment is Illegal – Matter Remanded for Fresh Decision.
Summary
The petitioners challenged the concurrent judgments whereby the respondent's suit for possession through partition was decreed by a preliminary decree, while the petitioners' cross-suit for declaration, confirmation of possession, recovery of possession, and consequential relief based on a plea of benami ownership and a family settlement was dismissed.
The Lahore High Court held that the First Appellate Court failed to discharge its statutory duty under Order XLI Rule 31 CPC. Instead of independently reappraising the oral and documentary evidence and deciding the grounds of appeal, it merely reproduced the Trial Court's findings and mechanically affirmed them.