Syed GHAZANFAR ALI SHAH vs HASSAN BOKHARI S — 2024 SCMR 154 SUPREME-COURT

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Syed GHAZANFAR ALI SHAH VS HASSAN BOKHARI S. 135---Partitioning of land---Non-compliance of orders of the Board of Revenue and High Court by revenue officials---Rule of law, undermining of---Respondents had submitted an application under section 135 of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1967 seeking partitioning of certain lands---Application was objected to by the petitioners, however the matter was disposed of by the Member, Board of Revenue with consent of the parties---Subsequently, the petitioners assailed the consent order by filing a writ petition before the High Court, which reproduced the earlier consent and dismissed the writ petition and held that, 'the petition at the face of it is not only frivolous but vexatious and is dismissed in limine with costs of Rs.50,000/-, which shall be deposited with the Deputy Registrar (Judicial) of this Court within thirty days, failing which the same shall be recovered from the petitioners as arrears of land revenue in accordance with law---Held, that to date said costs were neither paid nor recovered---Petitioners had challenged a consent order, which was upheld by the High Court---Respondents had submitted a simple application for partition, which they were entitled under the law, but which for no discernable reason has been resisted by the petitioners---This has resulted in unnecessary litigation and wastage of time---Petitioners, it seems, want to procrastinate matters and by acting most unreasonably have managed to stretch out a simple matter for almost 14 years---Fact that revenue authorities have still not attended to the respondents' application and have disregarded the order of the Member, Board of Revenue, indicates the influence the petitioners wield, including over the revenue officers of the area, who have also paid no heed to the order of the Judge of the High Court; they also did not bother to recover the amount of fifty thousand rupees that they had been directed to do in the impugned judgment---Such disobedience and disdain by the revenue officers who are paid out of the public exchequer undermines the rule of law---Petition for leave to appeal was dismissed with costs in the sum of one million rupees with the directions that such costs are in addition to the costs imposed by the Judge of the High Court; that the costs shall be deposited with the concerned revenue officer and shall be equally distributed/paid to the respondents, and if not deposited within 30 days, shall be recovered as areas of land revenue from the petitioners, and the concerned revenue officers shall implement the order of the Member, Board of Revenue in accordance with the law.

Syed GHAZANFAR ALI SHAH vs HASSAN BOKHARI S — 2024 SCMR 154 SUPREME-COURT

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