LAHORE (Muhammad Ashfaq) – The Lahore High Court (LHC) has resolved a 16-year-old inheritance dispute between a brother and sister, rejecting the brother’s claim that he had received the inherited property as a verbal gift.
Justice Rassal Hassan Syed issued a nine-page written verdict on the appeal filed by citizen Muhammad Riaz, upholding the sessions court’s decision to grant the sister her share in the inherited property.
According to the verdict, the petitioner claimed that his father had transferred the entire property to him through an oral gift in 2009. However, he failed to present any evidence to prove the alleged verbal gift. The brother attempted to deprive the sister of her rightful inheritance on the basis of this claim.
The court observed that as the beneficiary of an oral gift, it was the petitioner’s responsibility to prove it. He could not explain when, where, at what time, and in whose presence the gift was made. He also failed to produce any document bearing the father’s signature or thumb impression confirming the gift.
The verdict stated that the petitioner objected on the grounds that the sister filed her claim after a delay. However, the court held that the brother was unlawfully trying to seize the sister’s share in their late father’s property, and that inheritance-related claims cannot be dismissed solely on the basis of limitation.
According to the LHC, in inheritance matters the limitation period begins from the date a co-heir’s right is denied. Court records showed that the parties owned inherited property in Sargodha, which was transferred to both the brother and sister after their father’s death in 2009.
The verdict further noted that the petitioner continued to give the sister her share of income from the inherited property for one year. After that year, the sister demanded partition of her inheritance, and an inquiry revealed that the brother had fraudulently transferred the entire property in his own name.
The court also recorded that the sister stated she was never given any gift, nor did her father ever inform her of such a gift. She filed a civil suit seeking her share in the inherited property. In 2022, the civil court dismissed her claim after accepting the brother’s gift claim as valid.
The sister then challenged the civil court’s decision before the sessions court, which on November 11, 2022, set aside the civil court’s ruling and ordered that the sister be given her rightful share. Muhammad Riaz subsequently filed an appeal against the sessions court’s decision in the High Court.
The petitioner argued that the oral gift was duly verified and therefore the sister’s claim was not maintainable. However, the LHC ruled that the sessions court’s decision to grant the sister her share was correct and dismissed the petitioner’s appeal on merit.