Saif Ali Khan Loses Claim to Bhopal Properties
The decision has significant implications for the Pataudi family, which had been claiming ownership of the properties for decades. The case will now be re-examined, taking into account the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Act, 1937, and the claims of the heirs of Hamidullah Khan's elder brother. The outcome of the case remains uncertain, but the High Court's decision has paved the way for a fresh examination of the dispute.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has set aside a 25-year-old trial court order that declared Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan and his family as successors to the properties of the erstwhile Nawab of Bhopal, Hamidullah Khan, remanding the case back to the trial court for a fresh decision.
The case dates back to 1999, when the heirs of Hamidullah Khan and his elder brother moved the trial court seeking partition and succession of the properties as per the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Act, 1937. The trial court had initially decreed two personal properties in favor of the heirs of Sajida Sultan, Saif's paternal grandmother. However, the High Court's recent decision has now set aside this order, allowing the heirs of Hamidullah Khan's elder brother to challenge the partition and succession of the private properties.
The properties in question, which have been under government control since 2014, include luxury assets such as the Flag Staff House, a hotel, a palace, and several acres of land in and around Bhopal. The Madhya Pradesh government had declared Saif Ali Khan's ancestral Bhopal properties as "enemy property" in 2014, and his plea to challenge the decision was recently rejected by the High Court. The High Court has now granted liberty to the parties to move an appropriate application before the trial court, which will re-examine the case and decide it afresh, preferably within a year.
The High Court's decision is seen as a setback to the Pataudi family, which had been granted ownership of the properties in 2000. The dispute pertains to the descendants of the last ruler of the princely state of Bhopal, Nawab Hamidullah Khan, and his family members, including actor Saif Ali Khan's mother-in-law, Sharmila Tagore. The case will now be re-examined by a trial court, which will decide the matter afresh, bringing a new twist to the long-standing dispute over the ancestral properties.