Noor Muhammad and others v. Ghulam Haider and others

Case summary

The judgment in brief

In 2026 SCP 211, the Supreme Court held that an alleged oral gift and mutation cannot defeat women's inheritance without strict, independent proof.

Question of law

The legal question

Whether an alleged oral gift recorded in a 1955 revenue mutation was legally proved so as to exclude a widow and daughters from vested inheritance rights, and whether delay, possession, and later revenue entries could substitute for proof of the gift.

Court holding

What the Court decided

No. The beneficiaries had to prove the oral gift itself through cogent evidence of declaration, acceptance, and delivery of possession. A mutation is a fiscal entry and does not create or extinguish title. Possession by one co-heir is ordinarily possession for all, and later transactions could not retrospectively prove the foundational gift.

Result

Outcome and directions

The petition was converted into an appeal and allowed. Gift Mutation No. 75 dated 17 April 1955 and subsequent transactions founded upon it were declared ineffective against the petitioners' inheritance rights. The revenue authorities were directed to correct the record and determine and separate the lawful shares.

Practical effect

What the decision means in practice

The petition was converted into an appeal and allowed. Gift Mutation No. 75 dated 17 April 1955 and subsequent transactions founded upon it were declared ineffective against the petitioners' inheritance rights. The revenue authorities were directed to correct the record and determine and separate the lawful shares.

This summary states the immediate effect recorded in the decision. The original judgment and the facts of the particular case remain controlling.