Law: Specific Relief Act, 1877

Section: 42, 54

Law: Code Of Civil Procedure, 1908.

Section: 115

Law: Constitution of Pakistan, 1973

Section: 185(3)

Specific Relief Act, 1877 (I of 1877)-- ----Ss. 42 & 54--Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (V of 1908), S. 115--Constitution of Pakistan, 1973, Art. 185(3)--Civil Suit filed--Dispute regarding ownership/title of suit property between private parties Plaintiffs claimed ownership through inheritance Defendants relied upon alleged waqf deed suit dismissed after parties failed to establish title conclusively--Appeal--Dismissed--Findings of trial Court maintained (concurrent findings)--Civil revision--Dismissed--declared property as Escheat property and directed Government to take possession--Review dismissed--Revenue record--Entry in name of Government--No conclusive proof of title--Doctrine of escheat--Death intestate--No legal heirs--Proof required--Escheat was a distinct and special legal concept--Property could vest in State only where owner had died intestate, and no legal heir existed to inherit estate, and such foundational facts had been established through proper and independent proceedings--A declaration of Escheat could not be made incidentally or collaterally in a civil suit, particularly when it had neither been pleaded nor put in issue between parties--It was by now well settled that Courts were bound by pleadings of parties and could not grant relief or record findings on matters neither pleaded nor put in issue--The entire lis had remained confined to a contest of title between two private parties, one claiming ownership by inheritance and other on basis of an alleged waqf deed--Escheat had never been set up as a case by any party--No issue had been framed in this regard, nor had evidence been adduced to establish foundational facts necessary for such a declaration--In proceeding to declare suit property as Escheat, High Court had travelled beyond pleadings and effectively introduced a third and entirely alien case, which was impermissible under settled principles of law--At most, if Court had been of opinion that neither party had established title and property might belong to Government, it could only have observed that parties had failed to prove title or claim over suit property, and left matter open for Government to proceed independently in…