With the approval of Hon’ble Chief Justice Lahore High Court/ Chairperson BoM, Punjab Judicial Academy, Lahore, the Academy has conducted first-ever Online Questions & Answers Sessions for Rent Tribunals & Rent Appellate Courts in Punjab on 08th July, 2023 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
The aim of the online session was to discuss judgment authored by Hon’ble Mr. Justice Shahid Jamil Khan, Judge Lahore High Court, reported as 2019 MLD 2095 Lahore, titled Sheraz Pervaiz Mustafa versus The Special Judge (Rent) Lahore and others. The Hon’ble Judge graced the session to take up questions raised by the learned Rent Tribunals and Rent Appellate Courts in the light of the judgment ibid to elaborate and discuss the spirit of the judgment, mainly relating to assumption of jurisdiction by the Special Courts in view of the provision of the Punjab Rented Premises Act, 2009.
Mr. Tariq Iftikhar Ahmad, Director Training (Distance Learning) PJA was coordinator. The proceedings started with recitation from the Holy Quran. The Hon’ble Author Judge Mr. Justice Shahid Jamil Khan briefly shared the facts and the basic point of law elaborated in the judgment. The learned Rent Tribunals and Rent Appellate Courts (Judges) were then invited to start discussion. Participants from different Districts and Tehsils in Punjab put up queries/questions which were addressed by his lordship. The different aspects of the judgment were discussed and the Hon’ble Author Judge cleared the basic spirit of the judgment that how in a rent matter the courts are to entertain the lis and what the legal and basic requirements are to be observed, if these are fulfilled then to assume the jurisdiction and proceeded further. Also stated that even if right to defend is not granted to the respondent or he is proceeded against ex-parte it is bounded duty of the tribunal/court to have sufficient material reliable to decide the claim on merit.
One of the important discussion during the session was that the Special Tribunal shall apply mind and render well-reasoned order and leave rest to be dealt with if the matter is raised in front of the Hon’ble Constitution Court, that’s how the law is elaborated and providing guideline to be followed by the Rent Tribunals and Rent Appellate Courts.
The Session which was scheduled for one hour, however, concluded in about 1 hour and 45 min. The coordinator at the conclusion paid thanks to the Hon’ble Mr. Justice Shahid Jamil Khan, Judge Lahore High Court, to discuss online the judgment authored by him with the Special Courts dealing with Rent cases. The participants were also thankful for the presence of the Hon’ble Judge to clear their concepts about this very important litigation. His lordship admired PJAs efforts to virtually connect the District Judiciary through Webinars and also appreciated the focus and active participation of the Judges.