Dhaka, Oct 29 (V7N)- The High Court has observed that a client should not suffer the consequences of a mistake made by the lawyer appointed to represent them. The observation came in the case of Mohammad Asif vs. State, involving a dispute over land ownership.
The full text of the judgment was published on the Supreme Court’s website on Wednesday, October 28. Earlier, on September 10, a High Court bench comprising Justice SM Quddus Zaman and Justice Tamanna Rahman Khalidi set aside the judgment and decree of a subordinate court in a first appeal concerning land ownership and sent the case back for retrial.
In its judgment, the High Court said the lawyer had made an error while preparing the pleadings, for which the plaintiff should not be held responsible. The court said justice required that both parties be given an opportunity to amend their respective pleadings and submit additional evidence, if necessary.
Background of the Land Dispute
According to the case records, Mohammad Asif filed a suit seeking a declaration of ownership over 67.40 per cent of the disputed land. The plaintiff claimed that the property originally belonged to Prasanna Kumar Basu and others and was correctly recorded in C.S. Khatian No. 2715.
The land was subsequently transferred to Kazi Abu Sayeed through registered patta deeds dated August 28, September 17 and June 18, 1952, according to the plaintiff’s account. It was later transferred to Haji Salahuddin and Khalil Mia through a registered sale deed dated January 13, 1904. Khalil Mia subsequently transferred his share to Haji Salahuddin through another sale deed dated October 6, 1904.
The plaintiff alleged that the R.S. record incorrectly showed only 58.68 per cent of the land in the name of Kazi Salahuddin, instead of the claimed 67.40 per cent. Salahuddin later transferred the land to Mohammad Asif through a registered deed dated May 31, 1989.
Asif claimed that he had been peacefully occupying the property and operating a factory there. However, the land was allegedly recorded in the defendants’ names in City Survey Khatian No. 1. Following that record, the local tehsildar stopped collecting land revenue from him, according to the case details.
Trial Court Dismissed the Suit
Mohammad Asif subsequently filed a suit before the Joint District Judge’s Court in Dhaka, seeking a declaration that the City Survey record was incorrect and illegal.
According to the High Court judgment, the lawyer’s pleadings failed to properly present key details concerning the discrepancy in the land records and the disputed ownership entries. The trial court dismissed the suit on June 15, 2017.
Challenging the judgment and decree, Asif filed a first appeal before the High Court in 2018.
After examining the case records and the circumstances surrounding the dispute, the High Court concluded that the case should be returned to the trial court for retrial, allowing both parties to amend their pleadings and present additional evidence where necessary.
The matter will therefore be reconsidered by the subordinate court in accordance with the High Court’s directions.
END/SMA/AJ
