GHOUS MUHAMMAD vs MUHAMMAD ZAFAR ULLAH KHAN S — 2025 CLC 1614 BOARD-OF-REVENUE-PUNJAB

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GHOUS MUHAMMAD VS MUHAMMAD ZAFAR ULLAH KHAN S. 135---Partition proceedings---Merger /pooling (consolidation) of Khatas, matter of---Divergent judicial opinions / precedents---Interpretation of precedent(s)---Whether, contextual or rigid---Petitioners were owners in multiple (as many as four) Khatas---In order to partition their land, they requested for consolidation/merger/ pooling (??????) of their Khatas; but the request of petitioners for consolidation/merger was not entertained and the mode of partition was finalized without consolidation of Khatas---The matter of consolidation/merger/ pooling (??????) of the Khatas of the petitioners had gone all the way up to level of the Member, Board of Revenue, Punjab---The Courts below relied heavily on the judgment in case titled Ibrar v. Raheem Dad (2015 CLC 546), where the Senior Member, Board of Revenue, Punjab, opined that "each joint khata is a separate revenue unit and any co-sharer therein may apply for independent partition under S. 135 of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1967"---Said interpretation was used to invalidate the earlier reasoning given in case titled Yasin v. Jan Muhammad (2005 CLC 1944), where the Member Judicial, Board of Revenue, Punjab, had permitted the pooling of five joint khatas in the interest of achieving a just and equitable partition"---Held: It is evident that divergent judicial opinions have existed at the highest level of the revenue judiciary concerning the permissibility of khata merger---Said judicial dissonance suggests that matter remains interpretatively open and calls for contextual rather than rigid interpretation of precedents---In the present case, the petitioner has raised a compelling practical concern; which confirms that all co-sharers of the impugned khatas have voluntarily expressed their explicit and uncontested consent to merge and pool their holdings---No party has raised any legal or factual objection---Imposing an unqualified prohibition in these circumstances is not only inequitable but also counterproductive to the objectives of just partition---Revenue jurisprudence must evolve to accommodate both legal and administrative realism---The function of judicial orders within revenue administration is not to enforce rigid literalism, but to harmonize legal principles with fairness, efficiency and public convenience---Where the khatas lie in the same estate, ownership is traceable, shares are reconcilable, and mutual consent exists, refusing pooling becomes not a matter of law, but a denial of equitable justice---Accordingly, while the decision reported in Ibrar v. Raheem Dad (2015 CLC 546) remains a valid precedent, its application must be understood as context-specific; it should not be interpreted as laying down a universal and permanent embargo against merger or pooling---Legal principles must adapt to the facts at hand and judicial discipline demands flexibility when required to prevent manifest hardship---A complete ban on the same should not be allowed to continue but ban has been imposed on consolidation of holdings by a judicial order---Thus, subject to certain safeguards, pooling or merger of khatas shall be deemed a permissible administrative and judicial act in appropriate cases---Member Judicial, Board of Revenue, Punjab, set-aside the impugned order, maintaining orders/judgments of Courts below, passed by the predecessor of this court; and ordered the Khatas-in-question to be merged / consolidated; and the case was remanded to the competent Revenue Officer for fresh proceedings---Review petition was accepted accordingly.

GHOUS MUHAMMAD vs MUHAMMAD ZAFAR ULLAH KHAN S — 2025 CLC 1614 BOARD-OF-REVENUE-PUNJAB

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