Lahore High Court expands property court scope for overseas Pakistanis

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ruled that special courts set up for overseas Pakistanis are empowered to hear a broader range of property disputes and are not confined to questions of ownership and possession alone.

In a judgement authored by Justice Anwaar Hussain, the court decided multiple petitions concerning the scope of jurisdiction under the Punjab Establishment of Special Courts (Overseas Pakistanis Property) Act, 2025.

The issue came before the high court after special courts declined to take up several matters, including suits involving specific performance, cancellation of transactions and inheritance claims, on the basis that such cases were beyond their limited jurisdiction. Those matters were then sent back to civil courts, leading affected litigants, including overseas Pakistanis, to challenge that interpretation before the LHC.

In one of the petitions, an overseas Pakistani living in Kuwait said the special court had refused to hear his suit seeking a declaration and specific performance against a housing society in Lahore, and that the matter had been transferred to a civil court. In another case, an overseas Pakistani said the special court declined jurisdiction in a dispute over the cancellation of a general power of attorney.

Justice Hussain held that the lower courts had wrongly interpreted the law by adopting what he described as an overly narrow reading of the Act’s preamble.

“The expressions ‘matters connected therewith’ and ‘incidental thereto’ are of wide import,” the judge noted, adding that the law was meant to cover the full range of disputes concerning immovable property involving overseas Pakistanis.

The judgement said the special courts’ jurisdiction extends beyond direct disputes over title or possession and also covers matters related to specific performance of contracts, partition, inheritance, validity of transactions, and ancillary or consequential issues linked to property.

“Once the dispute relates to immovable property involving an overseas Pakistani, the jurisdiction extends to all matters having nexus with such immovable property,” the judge added.

Justice Hussain also clarified that the jurisdiction of the special court is determined by the status of a party as an overseas Pakistani, whether that person appears in the case as a plaintiff or a defendant. He said that even where an overseas Pakistani is defending a case, the special court would continue to have exclusive jurisdiction so long as the dispute concerns immovable property.

The court held that the law creates an exclusive legal framework, effectively excluding the jurisdiction of civil courts in relevant matters. It further declared that all pending cases involving overseas Pakistanis and immovable property must be transferred to special courts in line with Section 13 of the Act.

The judge directed that such cases should continue from the stage already reached so that fresh trials are avoided before the special courts. He also observed that cases that had been wrongly retained by civil courts or returned to them because of earlier confusion must now be sent back to the special courts.

The judgement said this interpretation would promote consistency and ensure litigants are not disadvantaged because of judicial errors. The court set aside the impugned orders in the petitions and directed that the matters be heard by the special courts in accordance with the clarified legal position.