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ISLAMABAD:
The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has rejected a petition to enforce land mutations after a delay of more than a hundred years, ruling that tax authorities do not have the authority to correct land records in cases involving extraordinary and unexplained delays or disputed claims.
A two-member bench, comprising Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Muhammad Karim Khan Agha, dismissed a petition filed by Faizullah Khan and others, while upholding the decision of the LHC, Multan Bench. The court said such issues can only be decided by a civil court.
The petitioners claimed that their predecessors and certain pro forma respondents were the owners of the disputed lands on the basis of mutations sanctioned in 1907 and 1913, which were approved on the basis of a decision of a competent civil court.
However, they claim, these mutations were never implemented in the register of rights due to the negligence of the tax authorities and there are now no legal obstacles to their application.
The court was informed that the petitioners first approached the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue), Layyah, in 2020 for the application of the mutations, but their request was rejected. Later, the Additional Commissioner allowed the appeal and ordered the transfers to be implemented.
However, the Punjab Board of Revenue, through review proceedings, set aside this order and restored the decision of the Additional Deputy Commissioner. Later, the LHC also rejected the constitutional petition.
