# Your right to buy the land first (haq-e-shufa) does not wait. Two hours was too late. > Under Pakistan's pre-emption laws the right is lost unless you make three demands in order, and the first must be made at once, in the same sitting where you hear of the sale. In 2020 the Supreme Court held that a two hour delay was fatal. - Topic: Property and inheritance - Court: Supreme Court of Pakistan - Citation: 2021 SCMR 134 - The myth: "My right of pre-emption (haq-e-shufa) can wait. I can claim the land when I am ready." Verdict: Wrong. - Watch: https://failegal.site/media/pre-emption-shufa-talb-immediate-demand-two-hours-2021-scmr-134 (video https://failegal.site/media/pre-emption-shufa-talb-immediate-demand-two-hours-2021-scmr-134/reel.mp4, 1:19) - Published by FAI Legal on 2026-10-10 When land is sold in a village or a shared khata, the people with a right of pre-emption (haq-e-shufa) can claim to buy it in place of the buyer. Many of them think the right will still be there when they get round to it. This matters to co-owners, neighbours and anyone who hears that land they may have a right in has been sold, and to buyers who want to know when a pre-emption claim fails. ## Key points - Section 13 of the Punjab Pre-emption Act 1991: the right of pre-emption "shall be extinguished" unless three demands are made in order: talb-i-muwathibat, talb-i-ishhad and talb-i-khusumat. - Talb-i-muwathibat is an "immediate demand" in the sitting or meeting (majlis) in which you come to know of the sale. Any words showing you intend to use the right are enough. - Talb-i-ishhad: as soon as possible, and not later than two weeks from the date of knowledge, a written notice attested by two truthful witnesses, sent to the buyer by registered post, acknowledgement due. - The Supreme Court in 2021 SCMR 134: "a delay of two hours in making the demand of Talb-i-Muwathibat is not an immediate demand and such delay is fatal to a successful claim of pre-emption." ## The rule in one line Pre-emption is a right you must claim out loud, at once. The moment you hear of the sale, in that same sitting, say that you will exercise your right. Then send a written notice within two weeks, attested by two witnesses, by registered post. Then file the suit. Miss a step, or take it late, and the right is gone. ## What happened in this case A man filed a suit for pre-emption in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The case turned on one question: when did he make the first demand, talb-i-muwathibat? His own two witnesses testified that they told him about the sale at 3 pm. He testified that he made the demand at 5 pm (paragraphs 2 and 4). The trial court dismissed his suit. The appellate court upheld the dismissal. The Peshawar High Court, Abbottabad Bench, dismissed his civil revision on 12 March 2018 (paragraph 1). ## What his lawyer argued His counsel said the trial judge had recorded the witnesses' time wrongly, and that an application to correct it was filed the very next hearing but never decided. He also said the witnesses testified more than five years after the event, on 17 January 2011, and could simply have forgotten the time, relying on Abdul Latif v. Dil Mir, 2010 SCMR 1087 (paragraph 2). The Supreme Court noted that after the correction application was filed, many dates were fixed for evidence, but not once did he or his counsel bring the application to the trial judge's attention. The appellate court had looked at the point and decided it against him (paragraph 3). ## What the Supreme Court said A bench of Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan decided the petition on 4 November 2020. The Court read the definition of talb-i-muwathibat, an immediate demand in the sitting or meeting in which the pre-emptor comes to know of the sale, and held: "The use of the word immediate is significant and cannot be undermined; a delay of two hours in making the demand of Talb-i-Muwathibat is not an immediate demand and such delay is fatal to a successful claim of pre-emption" (paragraph 4). It distinguished Abdul Latif: there the witness said he could not remember the exact time, which does not contradict the pre-emptor. Here the witnesses gave a different time, 3 pm, which is when the demand should have been made (paragraph 4). Leave to appeal was declined and the petition dismissed (paragraph 5). ## The two week notice is just as strict In Mst. Zohra Khatoon v. Ghulam Farid, 2020 SCMR 465, the Supreme Court found that the pre-emptor knew of the sale on or soon after 25 January 2003 but sent the notice of talb-i-ishhad on 17 March 2003. Because the first demand was not made immediately and the notice was sent after the two weeks, the pre-emption suit was dismissed (paragraphs 6, 7 and 9). ## The case at a glance - **Facts:** A pre-emption suit under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pre-emption Act 1987. The pre-emptor's two witnesses said they told him of the sale at 3 pm; he said he made talb-i-muwathibat at 5 pm. The trial court dismissed the suit, the appellate court upheld it and the Peshawar High Court, Abbottabad Bench, dismissed the revision on 12 March 2018. - **The question:** Whether a two hour gap between learning of the sale and making talb-i-muwathibat defeats a pre-emption claim. - **What the Court held:** Yes. A delay of two hours is not an immediate demand and is fatal to the claim. Leave refused and the petition dismissed. - **Why:** The statute defines talb-i-muwathibat as an immediate demand in the same sitting; the word immediate cannot be undermined. A witness who cannot remember the time is different from witnesses who give a different time. - **Limits:** This was an order refusing leave on the facts proved below. It does not say every delay of minutes is fatal, and it leaves Abdul Latif standing for cases where a witness simply does not remember the time. It was decided under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Act; the Punjab Act has the same definition. ## In the Court’s words > "In a pre-emption suit the pre-emptor must immediately upon learning of the sale make Talb-i-Muwathibat and thereafter as per the Act, within fourteen days, send notice of Talb-i-Ishhad." (2020 SCMR 465, para 6) ## The law it relies on - **Punjab Pre-emption Act, 1991, s.13:** The right "shall be extinguished" unless talb-i-muwathibat, talb-i-ishhad and talb-i-khusumat are made in that order. Talb-i-muwathibat "means immediate demand by a pre-emptor, in the sitting or meeting (Majlis) in which he has come to know of the sale". Talb-i-ishhad "not later than two weeks from the date of knowledge", by a notice "attested by two truthful witnesses, under registered cover acknowledgement due". - **Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pre-emption Act, 1987, s.13:** The same three demands and the same definition of talb-i-muwathibat, as read by the Supreme Court in 2021 SCMR 134 and 2020 SCMR 465. ## What this does not mean - It does not mean you need special words. The Act says any words showing you intend to exercise the right are enough. - It does not mean the two weeks for the notice run from the date of the sale. They run from the date you came to know of it, and the court will test when that really was. - It does not decide who has a right of pre-emption in the first place. That depends on the Act and the facts of each case. ## Questions people ask ### What exactly do I have to say when I hear of the sale? Any words that show you intend to exercise your right of pre-emption, said at once in the same sitting where you hear of the sale. It helps if the people who told you can later testify to it, because the court will ask when and where you heard and when you made the demand. ### How long do I have to send the notice? As soon as possible and not later than two weeks from the date you came to know of the sale: a written notice attested by two truthful witnesses, sent to the buyer by registered post, acknowledgement due (Punjab Pre-emption Act 1991, s.13(3)). Keep the postal receipts. ### Is a delay of two hours always fatal? In 2021 SCMR 134 the Supreme Court held that a two hour delay was not an immediate demand and was fatal. The safest course is to make the demand the moment you hear, in that same sitting. ## Sources - Bashir Ahmed v. Muhammad Zaman, 2021 SCMR 134, Supreme Court of Pakistan, 4 November 2020, paras 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. A two hour delay in making talb-i-muwathibat is not an immediate demand and is fatal to a pre-emption claim; leave refused. (verified against full text) (official text: https://www.supremecourt.gov.pk/downloads_judgements/c.p._2633_2018.pdf) - Mst. Zohra Khatoon v. Ghulam Farid, 2020 SCMR 465, Supreme Court of Pakistan, 14 January 2020, paras 6, 7, 9. Talb-i-muwathibat not made immediately and talb-i-ishhad notice sent after two weeks of knowledge; pre-emption suit dismissed. (verified against full text) (official text: https://www.supremecourt.gov.pk/downloads_judgements/c.a._1409_2013%20.pdf) - Punjab Pre-emption Act, 1991, s.13 (text checked in FAI Statute Search) (official text: https://punjabcode.punjab.gov.pk/en/show_article/UGVcb1RhVmc-) ## What the reel says 3 pm: he hears the land has been sold. 5 pm: "I want it." Two hours was too late. The law: the right of pre-emption "shall be extinguished" unless three demands are made, in this order (Punjab Pre-emption Act 1991, s.13; the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Act has the same rule). First, talb-i-muwathibat: an "immediate demand", in the same sitting (majlis) where you hear of the sale. Second, talb-i-ishhad: within two weeks of knowing, a written notice attested by two truthful witnesses, sent by registered post, acknowledgement due. Third, talb-i-khusumat: the suit. The case: his own two witnesses said they told him at 3 pm. He said he made the demand at 5 pm. The trial court, the appeal court and the High Court all ruled against him. Supreme Court (November 2020): "The use of the word immediate is significant and cannot be undermined; a delay of two hours in making the demand of Talb-i-Muwathibat is not an immediate demand and such delay is fatal to a successful claim of pre-emption." Leave refused (Bashir Ahmed v. Muhammad Zaman, 2021 SCMR 134, para 4). In another case the notice went out after the two weeks, and the suit was dismissed (2020 SCMR 465). --- Educational legal information, not legal advice. Every case turns on its own facts. Speak to a qualified lawyer about your situation. Reading this page does not create a lawyer and client relationship. Review status: Pending advocate review. English: https://failegal.site/media/pre-emption-shufa-talb-immediate-demand-two-hours-2021-scmr-134 · Urdu: https://failegal.site/media/ur/pre-emption-shufa-talb-immediate-demand-two-hours-2021-scmr-134 FAI Media is part of FAI Legal (https://failegal.site), research on Pakistani statutes and judgments. Free to watch and read.