The Madhya Pradesh High Court has cancelled a 20-year-old verdict linked to the Bhopal royal property, ordering a fresh trial. This comes as a major relief to Saif Ali Khan and his family over the disputed inheritance.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court delivered a significant setback that actor Saif Ali Khan and his family, who inherited properties worth Rs.5,000 crore from the former royal family of Bhopal, by cancelling a trial court verdict given over 20 years ago and ordering a fresh trial.
In an order issued on June 30, Justice Sanjay Dwivedi from the single bench set aside the earlier judgment and decree, which had affirmed that the Pataudi family (Saif Ali Khan, his mother Sharmila Tagore, and his sisters Soha and Saba) were the rightful owners of the properties.
The court has instructed the trial court to make every effort to conclude the retrial within one year.
Nawab Hamidullah was the final ruling Nawab of Bhopal, and after his migration to Pakistan, his daughter Sajida, who married Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi and became Nawab Begum of Bhopal, inherited the properties.
Their son, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, known as Tiger Pataudi, later married Sharmila Tagore and succeeded to these assets, which are now claimed by Saif Ali and his siblings.
The appeals, one from Begum Suraiya Rashid and others, and another from Nawab Mehr Taj Sajida Sultan and others, who are all heirs of the late Nawab Mohammad Hamidullah Khan, argued that the trial court unjustly dismissed their suits regarding the division of royal property.
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Their legal representatives contended that the partition of the Nawab’s personal assets should have followed the Muslim Personal Law among all heirs, including the Pataudis.
The appellants contested the Pataudis’ reliance on a government certificate issued on January 10, 1962, which recognized Sajida Begum as the sole successor of all private properties.
Justice Dwivedi stated,
“The matters are remanded back to the trial court for deciding it afresh.”
He added,
“And if so required, the trial court can allow the parties to lead further evidence in view of the subsequent development and changed legal position.”
The judge expressed concern that the trial court had dismissed the suits without adequately considering various aspects, relying instead on a judgment that had already been overruled by the Supreme Court.
He concluded,
“Thus, in my opinion, the impugned judgment and decree deserve to be and are hereby set aside.”
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The court emphasized that, as the suits were filed in 1999, the trial court should make all possible efforts to expedite the process, ideally within a year.
The princely state of Bhopal, On April 30, 1949, was merged into the Union of India under a written agreement, which stipulated that all special rights held by the Nawab would persist, and that personal properties would remain under their absolute ownership, with succession governed by the Bhopal Succession to the Throne Act of 1947.