MUHAMMAD IQBAL HUSSAIN vs MINISTRY OF INTERIOR art — 2025 CLC 1328 ISLAMABAD

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MUHAMMAD IQBAL HUSSAIN VS MINISTRY OF INTERIOR art. 199---Constitutional petition---Maintainability---Principle of laches---applicability---Delay of one year and five months---Courts favor timely assertion of rights---Relief denied to indolent litigants---Laches in service matters---Scope---Distinction from ordinary litigation---Constitutional jurisdiction and its discretionary nature---Scope---The constitutional petition for unblocking the Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) was filed by petitioner after a lapse of one year and five months, regarding which the counsel had given no reasonable explanation, hence the same was hit by laches---In service matters the concept of laches was different from that in ordinary litigation---Similarly, if the constitutional petition remedy is invoked within a reasonable timeframe, interference may be declined on the grounds of laches---It is inherent in the doctrine that procrastination undermines equity, a principle favoring vigilant and not indolent---Laches, in its elementary sense, signified a failure to undertake actions that ought to have been performed within a reasonable temporal framework---The assessment of laches in a constitutional petition was invariably contingent upon the conduct exhibited by the individual seeking constitutional recourse, but in the instant case, the counsel for the petitioner could not justify the delay in filing the petitions---The concept of laches was not an abstract or technical rule---It applied when it would be unfair to grant a remedy because one party's actions could be seen as a waiver of that remedy or because one party's actions and indifference put the other party in an unreasonable position to assert that remedy later on---Two crucial factors in these cases were the duration of the delay and the nature of the acts done during that time, which could impact both parties and create a balance of justice or injustice regarding the remedy---The petitioner had failed to establish grounds warranting indulgence of High Court under art. 199 of the Constitution, hence, under the circumstances the constitutional petition was dismissed.

MUHAMMAD IQBAL HUSSAIN vs MINISTRY OF INTERIOR art — 2025 CLC 1328 ISLAMABAD

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