Court upholds claim over premium number

Dismisses appeals by K-P govt, private claimant while civil suit remains pending

HARIPUR:

An appellate court in Haripur on Tuesday dismissed appeals filed by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government and a private claimant in a high-profile dispute over the coveted vehicle registration number "HARIPUR-1", reportedly valued at about Rs8 million, upholding an earlier interim order in favour of Raja Shahab Sikandar Zaman.

According to judicial sources, Additional District and Sessions Judge-I Haripur, Muhammad Jameel Khan, in a judgment dated July 2, 2026, rejected the appeal and upheld the interim injunction earlier granted by Civil Judge-II Haripur on April 16, 2026.

Court records show that the case, titled Dilawar Khan vs Raja Shahab Sikandar & Others (Civil Appeal No 66/14), challenged the lower court's order restraining interference with the disputed registration number pending the final determination of the civil suit.

According to the judgment, the plaintiff maintained that the registration number "HARIPUR-1" had originally been allotted in his family's name on 8 February 1992.

In support of the claim, the court was presented with the original registration book, annual token tax receipts and other official records, which prima facie established that the special registration number had been lawfully allotted and had remained continuously registered in the same ownership.

The plaintiff further argued that the distinctive registration number had initially been assigned to a Mercedes-Benz registered in the name of Raja Sikandar Zaman and was subsequently used by his son, Raja Shahab Sikandar Zaman.

It was also submitted to the court that the registration had never been cancelled and that annual token taxes had been paid regularly up to 2026, demonstrating the continued validity of the allotment.

The appellants, however, contended that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had subsequently allotted the same premium registration number to Dilawar Khan, a resident of Pinyan, for about Rs8m.