Supreme Court rejects land transfer claim based on oral agreement

The Supreme Court has overturned lower court orders directing transfer of land on the basis of an alleged oral agreement dating back to 1992, holding that the agreement was not proved in accordance with law.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan and Justice Shakeel Ahmed issued a five-page judgment on a petition filed by Ghulam Ali against a Lahore High Court order dated May 21, 2024.

The court ruled that mere possession or long-term occupation of land does not establish ownership and that strict standards of proof apply in cases involving oral agreements. It held that essential details such as the date, time, place, terms and witnesses of an alleged oral contract must be clearly established.

The plaintiffs, Ali Sher and others, had claimed that following the acquittal of the accused in their father’s 1992 murder case, a jirga decided that Ghulam Ali would transfer 32 kanals of land to them. They alleged that possession of the land was handed over and that the petitioner later refused to register the transfer in 2016.

The trial court initially dismissed the suit in December 2021. However, after remand by the District Judge, the trial court decreed the suit for specific performance in June 2022. The Additional District Judge dismissed Ghulam Ali’s appeal in March 2024, and the Lahore High Court rejected a revision petition in May 2024.

The Supreme Court held that the lower courts had misapplied settled law and overlooked deficiencies in pleadings and evidence. It converted the petition into an appeal, allowed it, and set aside the judgments and decrees of the lower courts.

The suit for specific performance of the alleged oral agreement was dismissed.