LAHORE: In a recent development, the Lahore High Court has suspended 2 orders of the district government related to a property dispute among the overseas children of renowned jurist Dr. Farooq Hassan.
The court’s decision comes after a Supreme Court judgment that protects the rights of overseas Pakistanis.
As per the details, the dispute arose when Dr. Hassan’s daughters, who are based in the United States, came to Pakistan to transfer their father’s property at Temple Road, Lahore.
However, their younger brother filed a ‘false’ application to the Punjab Overseas Commission, resulting in the assistant commissioner passing the impugned orders that sealed the property.
The counsel for Mehreen Farooq Hassan and other petitioners argued that the matter was purely civil and could not be resolved by an executive body.
He explained that civil litigation was already pending adjudication before the competent forum of law, and the district government had no jurisdiction to deal with the matter.
Besides, he also added that the petitioners were overseas Pakistanis whose rights over the property in question were involved, and the court had already strengthened the rights of overseas Pakistanis in various judgments.
Meanwhile, a counsel for the respondent’s brother contended that the issue related to a property on which the respondent was also claiming ownership rights.
He admitted that there was a pendency of civil litigation before the competent court of law and sought some time to place necessary documents on record to clarify his client’s position regarding the property in question.
Justice Jawad Hassan observed that the rights of both the parties over the property in question were involved, for which civil litigation was already pending, and there were clear-cut verdicts of this court as well as the Supreme Court protecting the rights of overseas Pakistanis.
Therefore, the judge suspended the impugned orders till the next date of hearing, which was adjourned till May 9, and directed the counsel for the parties to submit their written arguments.
