In Brief
Dungaji challenged an administrative order declaring his wife's inherited land as surplus under a land ceiling law. He claimed customary divorce had dissolved their marriage before the law came into force, and sued in civil court to invalidate the order. The trial and appellate courts dismissed the suit, finding no divorce was proved. The High Court reversed this, upholding the divorce claim and nullifying the order. The Supreme Court restored the trial court's judgment, holding that: (1) civil courts lack jurisdiction to challenge administrative surplus determinations under Section 46 of the Ceiling Act; (2) concurrent factual findings cannot be lightly disturbed; and (3) the divorce was not established—the wife was identified as Dungaji's spouse in 1971 documents and never pleaded divorce before the authority.
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