livelawpk.com - The Mandatory Duty of Trial Court is to address Legal ---

The Mandatory Duty of Trial Court is to address Legal Issues, even if not pressed by Parties --- Lahore High Court remanded case back to the Trial Court

2 weeks, 5 days
31

The Mandatory Duty of Trial Court is to address Legal Issues, even if not pressed by Parties --- Lahore High Court remanded case back to the Trial Court

Islamabad 03-12-2024: The Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi Bench, presided over by Mr. Justice Jawad Hassan, has remanded a property dispute back to the trial Court, citing procedural lapses and insufficient adjudication of legal issues. The decision was announced on September 18, 2024, in [Civil Revision No. 530 of 2023], involving a suit for declaration and recovery of possession of a shop.

The Petitioner, Manzoor Elahi, challenged the judgments and decrees issued by the lower Courts, alleging that significant legal issues, particularly maintainability under Order VII Rule 11 of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC), were not properly addressed.

The Respondent, Rehmat Ali, filed a suit for declaration and possession, which was decreed in his favor by the trial Court on May 31, 2023. The petitioner’s appeal was subsequently dismissed by the appellate Court on July 25, 2023, prompting the revision petition.

The petitioner argued that the trial Court failed to adequately address Issue No. 4, which dealt with the maintainability of the suit. It was contended that this issue, a “question of law,” was improperly dismissed as “neither pressed nor argued.”

Mr. Justice Jawad Hassan emphasized the following legal principles:

The Court highlighted the mandatory nature of deciding legal issues, even if not pressed by the parties, as per Order XIV Rule 2 CPC. Maintainability as a Legal Question: Issues such as limitation and jurisdiction under Order VII Rule 11 CPC must be decided as threshold matters.

The Court criticized the trial Court for failing to thoroughly address Issue No. 4, noting that it is the judiciary’s duty to resolve legal issues based on law and precedents, regardless of the arguments presented.

The Lahore High Court set aside the judgments and decrees of the lower Courts and directed the trial Court to conduct a fresh trial. Mr. Justice Jawad Hassan instructed the trial Court to: