IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN 
(Appellate Jurisdiction) 
 
 
PRESENT: 
Mr. Justice Mushir Alam 
Mr. Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel 
 
Civil Petition No.2144/2016 
(Against 
the 
judgment 
dated 
11.05.2016 passed by the Peshawar 
High Court, Abbottabad Bench in 
C.R. No.21-A/14) 
 
Sardar Arshid Hussain and others  
 
 
Petitioners 
 
Versus 
 
Mst. Zenat un Nisa and another   
 
 
Respondents 
 
For the Petitioners:  
 
Mr. Hassan Raza Pasha, ASC 
 
 
 
 
 
Mr. Ahmed Nawaz Ch. AOR (Absent) 
 
For the Respondents: 
 
N.R. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Date of Hearing: 
 
 
26.01.2017 
 
ORDER 
 
 
Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, J.- This petition is directed against the 
judgment dated 11.05.2016 of the Peshawar High Court, Abbottabad Bench  
whereby Civil Revision No.21-A, filed by the petitioners, was dismissed. 
2. 
We have heard the learned counsel for the petitioners and perused the 
record with his assistance. The perusal of the record would reveal that the 
controversy between the parties revolves around a house which was initially 
transferred by Muhammad Irfan to Respondent No.1-Mst. Zenat-un-Nisa 
being his wife in lieu of dower vide an un-registered sale/dower deed dated 
15.02.1987 alongwith possession whereas the said Muhammad Irfan 
subsequently transferred the said house in the name of his two sons i.e. 
Petitioners No.1 & 2 through a registered gift deed bearing No.1036 dated 
2.10.1998. On getting knowledge of the same, the Respondent No.1 filed a 
suit for declaration questioning the genuineness of the above said registered 
gift deed. The Respondent No.1 through her evidence established her stance 
C.P.2144/16 
2 
of transfer of suit house in her favour by her husband vide an un-registered 
sale/transfer deed in lieu of dower and the physical possession of the suit 
house was also given to her on the strength of that deed. Besides, the report 
of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) i.e. Exh.CW-1/1 has also confirmed 
the 
signatures 
of 
Muhammad 
Irfan 
on 
the 
said 
deed. 
The 
defendants/petitioners have failed to shatter the evidence so produced by 
the plaintiff/Respondent No.1 in support of her stance and thereby the 
factum of transfer of suit house vide above said un-registered deed has been 
established. But in the peculiar circumstances of the case in hand, the 
question would be as to whether the above said un-registered sale/dower 
deed can be given any preference over the registered gift deed in favour of 
defendants/petitioners. The answer to this question would be a simple yes. 
The law on the point is now very much settled. A registered deed reflecting 
transfer of certain rights qua a property though will have sanctity attached to 
it regarding its genuineness and a stronger evidence would be required to 
cast aspersions on its correctness but cannot be given preference over an un-
registered deed vide which physical possession of the property has also been 
given. Sub-section (1) of Section 50 of the Registration Act, 1908 also provides 
that a registered document regarding transfer of certain rights in an 
immovable property will have effect against every un-registered document 
relating to the same property and conferring the same rights in the property 
as shown in the registered document but the law has also provided certain 
exceptions to the above said provisions of law. If a person being in 
possession of an un-registered deed qua transfer of certain rights in property 
alongwith possession of the same he can legally protect his rights in the 
property and even a registered deed subsequent in time will not affect 
his/her rights. The first proviso to Section 50 of the Registration Act, 1908 
provides so that such rights in the property can be protected under Section 
C.P.2144/16 
3 
53-A of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882. Reliance in this regard can well be 
placed on the cases of Fazla Vs. Mehr Dina and 2 others (1999 SCMR 837) and 
Mushtaq Ahmad and others Vs. Muhammad Saeed and others (2004 SCMR 530). 
So irrespective of the fact that the petitioners have a registered gift deed in 
their favour but the same is subsequent in time and they having no 
possession of the property cannot get any advantage of the same. Besides, 
the petitioners have claimed the gift in their favour vide the impugned 
registered deed but the basic ingredients of gift i.e. offer, acceptance and 
delivery of possession have also not been proved by them. The most 
important aspect of the case is that after the earlier transfer to Respondent 
No.1, legally Muhammad Irfan had nothing left to further transfer the same 
property to anyone else. So, the subsequent transfer vide the above said 
registered gift deed is illegal and void having no adverse effects on the rights 
of the plaintiff-Respondent No.1 and that has rightly been held so by the fora 
below. The petitioners have failed to rebut the evidence led by Respondent 
No.1 and they only tried to prove the factum of the alleged registered gift 
deed in their favour but the transfer in their favour, in view of the above 
discussion, is not a valid transfer. Even the petitioners did not question that 
very un-registered transfer deed in favour of Respondent No.1. Placing 
reliance on the case of Abdul Majeed and 6 others Vs. Muhammad Subhan and 2 
others (2000 SCJ 135) would be of great significance here, wherein, it has been 
observed that unless and until a substantial defect in reading oral or 
documentary evidence is pointed out the finding relating to factual 
appreciation of controversy need not be gone into by the Supreme Court.  
3. 
In view of what has been discussed above, the concurrent findings of 
the fora below do not suffer from any illegality or irregularity calling for 
interference by this Court. Resultantly, this petition is dismissed and leave to 
appeal is refused.  
C.P.2144/16 
4 
 
The above are the reasons for our short order of even date which 
reads as under:- 
“For the reasons to be followed leave is declined and 
petition is dismissed.”  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Judge 
 
 
Judge 
ISLAMABAD 
26th January, 2017 
NOT APPROVED FOR REPORTING 
 (Nasir Khan)  
 
