ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) has announced its verdict in a 100-year-old property inheritance case that started in a court of Rajasthan, India, in 1918.

The case revolves around a dispute over the inheritance of 5,600 kanals of land in Khairpur Tamiwali sub-district of Bahawalpur that was transferred to the Supreme Court from trial courts in 2005.

During the hearing, Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar said the property should be distributed among the heirs under the Islamic law. He said the court will not deprive anyone of their legal share.

As per the complainants, the property belonged to their elder, Shahabuddin, who died in 1918, after which the case was taken to the courts and has been going on since then.

There are thousands of cases, including those pertaining to land disputes, pending in courts of Pakistan for decades. According to legal experts, the number of such cases cannot be brought down until amendments are introduced in the Pakistan Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and the evidence act.

The data compiled by the law and justice commission reveals that more than 1.8 million cases are pending disposal in all the courts of Pakistan. Ninety percent of these case are lying undecided in the district judiciary while the pendency in the Supreme Court and the five high courts is also fairly high.

The chief justice plans to reduce the pendency through introducing reforms and has frequently urged the government to make the requisite law. He stresses the alternate resolution mechanism through which several cases can be decided out of court.