LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) held that mere efflux of time does not extinguish the right of inheritance; hence, the question of limitation in case of inheritance and fraud is not attracted and becomes insignificant.
The court passed this order in a petition of Mst Sadiqan Begum who approached the court against the dismissal of her suit seeking cancellation of gift mutation in favour of her brother.
The court said the possession of immovable property by one of the siblings to the exclusion of others will be treated as constructive possession on behalf of all others, unless proved otherwise.
The court said where a gift, which excluded a legal heir, irrespective of whether such transaction is evidenced by registered deed, the donee is required to prove original transaction and must justify the disinheritance of a legal heir from the estate.
The court said a mutation cannot by itself be considered a document of title; hence, the oral transaction of transfer of immovable property, be it sale, gift, surrender or will; etc., has to be proved separate from its incorporation in revenue record by way of sanctioning of the mutation.
The court said, it is mandatory for a beneficiary of oral transaction to prove the same through positive evidence by supplying mandatory material particulars in the pleadings; i.e., the time & date, the venue, the persons in whose presence the alleged transaction was brought about.
The court said, no amount of evidence can be led beyond the scope of pleadings and in case any such evidence is brought on record, the court cannot consider and rely upon the same and has to discard it.
The court commenting on the petitioner’s case said that factor of having possession of the suit property by the only brother of the petitioner lady cannot solely confirm the transaction of the impugned gift. The court said perusal of the written statement filed by the respondent leads to only one inescapable conclusion that the defendant had failed to plead the necessary ingredients of oral transaction of gift.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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