SC dismayed over K-P govt’s late filing of case

The Supreme Court has expressed its dismay over the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government for filing a delayed case for the retrieval of school land in Swat district.

"Civil Appeal No. 71-P/2014 is belatedly filed with a delay of 19 days because, as stated by the government, it was under a misapprehension that a petition, and not an appeal, had to be filed to challenge the impugned judgment,” read a nine-page judgment authored by Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

“The High Court had set aside the judgment of the Appellate Court, which clearly meant that an appeal lay which had to be filed within thirty days, but this was not done. The Government is supposed to know the law of the country, especially something as basic as the prescribed time period within which an appeal needs to be filed,” it added.

“The School, run by the Presentation Sisters, knew the law and were vigilant. They filed an appeal within time to protect their interest and the interest of the children studying in the school. The reason given to condone the delay does not behoove the government and the highest law office of the province.”

According to the facts of case, a land measuring 73 kanals and 11 marlas was “shamilat”, that is a village common land, but its ownership was shown in the settlement records as that of the provincial government.

It possession was shown to be with the Sangota Public School, situated in Mouza Sangota, Tehsil Babuzai, District Swat. The school is being run by the Presentation Sisters since 1965.

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A division bench of the apex court led Justice Isa allowed the school's appeal and set aside the seven-year-old Peshawar High Court judgment. The apex court also dismissed the K-P government appeal on account of 19 days delay.

The judgment said that the failure to file an appeal within the prescribed period of 30 days reflected the government’s ineptitude in not protecting public property but also its disdain towards the beneficiaries of the school, the children who studied there.

"The School is situated in the troubled Swat region which has suffered inequities at the hands of those who oppose the education of girls, have resorted to violence, attacked schools, forced schools to shut down and attacked school-going children," The verdict read.

The court noted that the school was the only all-girls one in Swat and educating over a 1,000 students.

"The school was bombed by terrorists and remained closed for about five years due to terrorist activity in Swat. The government’s gross incompetence and neglect in filing a timely appeal may have achieved the very same result which the rampaging terrorists had achieved, which is the forced closure of the school."

The court noted that a State protected and supported its citizens.” It is a testimony to the courage and determination of the teachers and children who attend schools in such dire circumstances. However, the horrendous number of terrorist attacks and the death and destruction left in their wake requires that the State ensures the guaranteed fundamental right to life and education.”