Jurisdiction (Part 2)

Now what is the matter? A gave B a loan, in exchange for that loan he was given cheques, and those cheques were dishonoured, that person fled to Pakistan. Now when this person came to me, his mental state was that he'd arrived with great hope that the Chief Justice of Pakistan would take up this matter, the FIA would set things ablaze, all of this would happen. Well, what's the basic point here? The basic point is that you gave someone money and he didn't return it. Does this matter fall within the FIA's jurisdiction? The answer to this question is no. Does this matter fall within the jurisdiction of any Pakistani court? The answer to this question is no. Your forum is in Saudi Arabia itself, if the Pakistan Embassy has given you some letter, that letter might end up in a trash bin, it cannot resolve your complaint. Yes, there's one possible avenue: the Chief Justice of Pakistan might take notice of it, that an overseas Pakistani was defrauded by someone who fled here, catch him, sell his property, get his money back for him, this isn't strictly according to law, but it's possible, however, if you go by the laws in force in Pakistan, your complaint's remedy lies in Saudi Arabia itself. I told this gentleman, go back to Saudi Arabia, and once there, pursue the case you have already filed, get a final judgment on it, then bring that final judgment to Pakistan, and on that basis... now what should that final judgment contain? You need to insist to your lawyer there on which points you need the judgment: 1. First point, first paragraph, that this person is being continuously summoned and isn't showing up, has gone to Pakistan, given a Pakistani address, still not showing up, deliberately stalling, ex-parte proceedings should be taken against him. 2. Second, the court should make all your evidence part of its judgment, that you gave this money, that in exchange for this money these cheques were given, presented to the court, these cheques were dishonoured, this amount is owed to me by him, I have this evidence of giving the money and of him giving a cheque for its return, this should be part of the judgment, then it should be part of the judgment that all this has been understood and his position is proven correct, then once they give that judgment, get it translated into English, get it attested by the embassy, get it attested by a notary public there, and bring it to Pakistan. In Pakistan, based on that, you'll file a suit wherever the defendant resides, and that suit will then be decreed. Now I've told you what should be in that judgment. Now the second important thing is you need to tell your lawyer, does the court I filed in have jurisdiction, does that court have jurisdiction to do this? Now when that judgment comes to Pakistan, when a suit is filed in Pakistan, what will the court look at? According to Section 13, Section 13 CPC. 1. First it will raise the question of jurisdiction, did that court have jurisdiction? 2. Second question, it will check whether this jurisdiction is on merits or not, if this judgment isn't on merits, it still won't accept it, it'll throw it in the trash. 3. Third, the court will also have the authority that if the facts of the case were discussed, but after discussing these facts a wrong view was taken, one that cannot be accepted in the world of law, or even an ordinary person of common sense could not have passed that judgment given those facts, then that too will be trash. 4. Then at the fourth stage the court will see whether this is against the principle of natural justice, if it is, still into the trash, if not, it'll take it up, then it'll see whether this judgment was obtained through fraud, if it was, it'll throw it in the trash, if not, it will act on it. 5. And finally, it will see whether the claimant, the one who obtained that judgment in his favour, violated any Pakistani law, if this suggestion applies and it was violated, still into the trash. Keeping all these things in mind, when you do this properly, you'll get relief. Now, in Pakistan, someone gives a cheque to repay a debt, to fulfil his obligation, now this person was also told that there's a cheque law in Pakistan too, go there and register a case against him. I said, well, the cheque was issued in Saudi Arabia, the cheque was dishonoured in Saudi Arabia, you gave the loan in Saudi Arabia, so how can you invoke jurisdiction under Section 489-F CPC in Pakistan? You can't. You were wrongly guided by someone. Whatever your matter is, its ultimate resolution must happen in Saudi Arabia itself. Saudi Arabia must resolve it, and whatever they resolve, you then bring to Pakistan, then it gets implemented in Pakistan. Implementation of a foreign judgment happens through the route of filing a suit. Now I've told you about matters abroad and here, now this issue too has been resolved in the CPC: a person dies, his property is in Lahore, his property is also in Rawalpindi, his property is also in Wahari, his property is also in Gujranwala. Now he wants a declaration to get these properties transferred into his name, now the law has made this very simple, the law says: you have properties in one city, all four cities, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Wahari, you can file this suit in any one city, mentioning these properties, and whatever decree you get, if taken from Lahore, will be enforceable in Gujranwala, Wahari, Rawalpindi. If taken from Gujranwala, it will be enforceable in Lahore, Wahari, Rawalpindi, there's no restriction in this, you absolutely do not need to file a suit repeatedly. You only need to be established as the lawful heir, and all of the deceased's properties will get transferred into his name. This isn't such a complicated matter. My fellow lawyers, they're my own community, some are good, some are bad, some are blackmailers, some are God-fearing, that's how it is, and this is how the whole of society is, this isn't unique to the legal profession, this happens in my profession, every profession has good and bad people. I'm running this awareness campaign so that, at the very least, you understand your foundation. Now you live in Lahore, the property is in Gujranwala, the defendant you have to sue lives in Gujranwala, you should know this basic thing, if you go to a lawyer in Lahore saying I have this dispute, you should at least know whether Lahore has jurisdiction or not. If the property is also in Gujranwala, the defendant is also in Gujranwala, and you're only in Lahore, the Lahore court has no jurisdiction at all. You'll waste your money, you'll waste your time, and you'll get nothing in hand. This is a big problem for litigation, because people say, we're ordinary people, we're unaware, we don't know the law, they go to a lawyer for legal help, and the lawyer they get could be of any kind. A good one will tell you, this shouldn't be filed here, go to that city, file it there, it needs to be filed there, not here. But if you know this yourself, you won't even go to a lawyer in Lahore. You'll go straight to Gujranwala, hire a lawyer there. After hiring a lawyer, you'll file your suit and fight it, and if you fight it and you're in the right, it'll go in your favour, if you're not in the right, it'll go against you. I hope I have given you a complete detail about jurisdiction that courts have.