The decision comes in continuation of the notice issued by the Indian Home Ministry in 2014, in which the state had claimed the Pataudi family’s properties
Muhammad Abrar Daily Dawn, Dawn TV Report
Mumbai: The Madhya Pradesh High Court has upheld the Indian government’s decision to declare Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan’s inherited property as ‘enemy property’, after which there is a possibility of deprivation of property worth Rs 15,000 crore.
According to the Hindustan Times, the Madhya Pradesh High Court has upheld the Indian government’s decision regarding Saif Ali Khan’s inherited property in Bhopal, in which these properties were declared ‘enemy property’ under the Enemy Property Act (1958).
The decision comes in the wake of a notice issued by the Indian Home Ministry in 2014, in which the state had claimed the Pataudi family’s properties.
Although Saif Ali Khan had obtained a stay order against the notice in 2015, the interim order has been lifted after a recent court ruling.
The affected properties include important and historic buildings in Bhopal, including Flagstaff House, Noor-ul-Sabah Palace, Dar-ul-Salaam, Ahmedabad Palace, Kohi Fiza Estate and Habibi Bungalow, with a combined value of over Rs 15,000 crore.
The root cause of this dispute is that Abida Sultan, the elder daughter of former Nawab of Bhopal Hamidullah Khan, migrated to Pakistan in 1950, due to which the Indian government maintains that her property can now come under state custody under the Enemy Property Act (1958).
However, the Nawab’s younger daughter Sajida Sultan, who lived in India, married Nawab Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi and Saif Ali Khan is his descendant.
According to the court, Sajida Sultan cannot be considered the sole heir simply because she lived in India.
The court has therefore remitted the matter to a lower court to determine whether other persons are also entitled to inherit under Islamic inheritance law.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has directed the lower court to decide the matter within a year, during which the question of whether the Pataudi family has full rights to the property or there are other claimants will also be considered.
The case is being seen as an important legal precedent in the context of India’s current legal system, post-partition state policies and inheritance laws.
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