Haji Maqsood petition: GU court directed to decide matter accordance with law

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has held that in an ex parte decree a court before rejecting an application on the ground of limitation is under a legal obligation to determine whether the summons had in fact been duly served or not.

The court is required to undertake a careful inquiry before non-suiting the applicant on a technical ground of limitation as such determination constitutes the very foundation for deciding limitation, the court added.

The court passed this order in a petition of Haji Maqsood challenging an ex parte decree passed by the Gas Utility (GU) Court.

The court set aside the impugned order and directed the GU court, to decide the matter fresh in accordance with law, by means of a reasoned and speaking order preferably within sixty (60) days.

The court said that although the court below observed that summons had been issued through ordinary process, registered post and publication, it did not undertake any meaningful examination of the legality or sufficiency of such service.

The impugned order is conspicuously silent regarding the process server’s report, postal acknowledgements, returned envelopes, publication record or the circumstances which necessitated resort to substituted service, the court also said.

The court also observed that where limitation itself depends upon the disputed date of knowledge, the court should refrain from deciding such question merely on assumptions or presumptions unsupported by proper inquiry.

The court also remarked that such controversy is essentially a mixed question of law and fact which ordinarily cannot be conclusively determined merely on the basis of arguments of the counsel.

The court said, it necessarily requires proper inquiry, framing of the relevant point for determination and, where required, recording of evidence enabling the parties to substantiate their respective assertions, the court concluded.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026