Hiba (Oral Gift): Can a donor unilaterally revoke an oral gift of land after mutation is recorded?

Question

A father made an oral gift (Hiba) of 50% share of his property to his son in 1984, followed by a written declaration in 1986 and name mutation in official land records. Later, due to some family disputes, the father unilaterally revoked the oral gift and executed a registered gift deed of the entire property in favor of his wife. Is this subsequent revocation of Hiba and registered gift deed legally valid under civil law?

Admin · Answer

Under Islamic and Pakistani civil law, once an oral gift (Hiba) is complete with declaration, acceptance, and delivery of possession (evidenced by mutation and possession of original title documents), it cannot be unilaterally revoked by the donor.

This principle was recently upheld by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in the case of 2026 SCMR 929 (Ghulam Asghar Khan v. Muhammad Arif Khan). The Court ruled that since mutation was entry-recorded and the donee possessed the original title documents (having redeemed the property from a bank mortgage), the oral gift was complete. Thus, the donor enjoyed no title to execute a subsequent gift deed of that 50% share to his wife, and the subsequent revocation was invalid.

Hiba (Oral Gift): Can a donor unilaterally revoke an oral gift of land after mutation is recorded?

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Hiba (Oral Gift): Can a donor unilaterally revoke an oral gift of land after mutation is recorded?

Linked Legal Reference

1 Comments

Rules for commenting

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