File an Overseas Pakistani Property Case in Balochistan: Special Court Must Decide in 90 Days

Short answer: If you are an overseas Pakistani and someone has taken or is holding your property in Balochistan, the Balochistan Establishment of Special Courts (Overseas Pakistanis Property) Act, 2025, sends your case to a special court. The court must decide within 90 days of letting the other side defend, and an appeal must reach the High Court within 15 days. You can file through someone you authorise and give evidence by video link.

The Balochistan Assembly passed the Act on 23 September 2025, and it was published in the Gazette on 30 September 2025. It came into force at once. We read the full Act on the Balochistan Code on 20 October 2026. We could not find the notification that sets up or names the special courts, so check that first, as explained below.

The Act covers anyone abroad for more than 182 days a year

An overseas Pakistani under the Act is anyone with a Pakistani passport, CNIC, NICOP, Pakistan Origin Card or Overseas Pakistanis Foundation card who lives, works or studies abroad for more than 182 days in a tax year. The property must be immovable property, such as land, a house, a shop or a plot.

The special court hears these cases exclusively. Any suit, petition or proceeding where one or more parties is an overseas Pakistani goes to it, and cases already pending in other courts were transferred to it when the Act began. Appeals and revisions move to a special bench of the High Court of Balochistan. If you need a NICOP or Pakistan Origin Card first, see how to get a NICOP or POC.

Your petition must state value, possession and any rent taken

The petition goes to the special court with jurisdiction over the property. It must give a short statement of facts covering who owns the property, who is in unlawful possession or control, its estimated market value, any rent or profit the occupier has taken, and the relief you want.

You do not have to fly home to file. The Act lets "anyone authorised by him" file for the overseas Pakistani, so a properly attested power of attorney is the usual route. Bring proof of title as well. For land, that means the fard and mutation record, which you can get by following the steps to check land records in Balochistan.

1. Confirm the special court for your district, at the district court or the High Court of Balochistan.
2. Authorise a relative or lawyer by power of attorney, if you are abroad.
3. Collect title papers: fard, mutation, registry or allotment letter, and your NICOP or passport.
4. Write down the market value, who occupies the property and any rent they collect.
5. File the petition and pay the court fee, then ask for an order stopping any sale.

The respondent gets 10 days, then must ask leave to defend

The court issues a notice for the respondent to appear on a date no more than 10 days away. Service is by process server, registered post and courier, and the court can also use a notice on the property, a phone message, a mosque announcement or a newspaper. If they do not come, a second notice gives 7 days, then the case can go ex parte.

The respondent cannot simply defend. They must apply for "leave to defend", with an affidavit, documents and up to two witness affidavits. If they do not, the facts in your petition are treated as admitted and the court can decree in your favour. The court must decide the leave application within 15 days.

If leave is granted, the court can require security of at least 10 per cent of the property's market value. Each side gets no more than two chances to bring evidence, and no adjournment can exceed 7 days.

Evidence by video link and a 90 day deadline for judgment

On request, the court must let an overseas litigant join hearings by video link. Your evidence, or a witness's, can be recorded through the Pakistani embassy, high commission or consulate, supervised by a notified official. Affidavits count as examination-in-chief, which saves a trip home.

The court must give judgment within 90 days of granting leave to defend. If it runs over, the respondent can be told to furnish security, and judgment follows if they do not, unless the delay is not their fault. Cause lists and short orders are to be posted on a dedicated web portal.

The court can freeze the property while the case runs

Once the notice is published, any sale, mortgage or transfer of the property by the respondent is void. The court can also restrain dealings, attach the property, hand possession to you, or appoint a receiver. These orders can reach a third party who bought the property in breach of the Act, or a benami holder.

After a decree, the case turns into execution by itself after 15 days, with no separate application, and the court can call on the police. The losing side has 15 days to appeal to the High Court, which must decide within 90 days. A stay of execution lapses after two months. There is no appeal against an order on leave to defend.

Check that a special court has been notified for your district

The Act lets the Balochistan government, in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court, set up special courts or designate district and additional district judges as special courts, by notification in the Gazette. The High Court is to make rules for e-filing. We did not find either the notification or the rules on the Balochistan Code.

That matters, because you file where the notification gives jurisdiction. Ask the District and Sessions Judge's office in your district, or the High Court of Balochistan, which court is the special court. You can also raise a complaint with the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation complaint cell, since OPF's managing director sits on the committee that reviews the Act each year.

If the property came to you by inheritance, settle that first, as the claim for inherited property explains. For a quick remedy against a recent dispossession under the general law, compare the suit for possession within six months.

Common questions

Who can use the Balochistan overseas property court?

A holder of a Pakistani passport, CNIC, NICOP, POC or OPF card who lives, works or studies abroad for more than 182 days in a tax year, or someone they authorise.

How fast must the special court decide?

Within 90 days of granting the respondent leave to defend. The leave application itself must be decided within 15 days.

Can I give evidence from abroad?

Yes. The court must allow a video link on request, and evidence can be recorded through the Pakistani embassy or consulate.

Can the occupier sell the property during the case?

No. Any transfer by the respondent after the notice is published is void, and the court can attach the property.

How long do I have to appeal?

15 days from the judgment, decree or final order, to the High Court of Balochistan, which must decide within 90 days.

When did the Act start?

It was published in the Balochistan Gazette on 30 September 2025 and came into force at once.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked 20 October 2026. We read the Balochistan Establishment of Special Courts (Overseas Pakistanis Property) Act, 2025 on the Balochistan Code on 20 October 2026, including its footnote on passage, assent and Gazette publication. The Code lists four entries for the Act. The two we compared match, except that one says "Special Court" and the other "Special Courts" in the title. We could not find the Gazette notification setting up or designating the special courts, the High Court's e-filing rules, a court fee schedule or the web portal the Act mentions.