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Indian Express
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Fresh trouble for Saif Ali Khan: How the Nawab of Pataudi also inherited Nawab of Bhopal's properties, what court has said about it
Actor Saif Ali Khan recently faced a legal setback, after the Madhya Pradesh High Court on June 30 set aside a trial court order that had made him, his sisters and mother the sole legal heirs of the Nawab of Bhopal. While Saif and his kin have not yet lost all rights over these properties, their legal fight is now harder. Importantly, this case is separate from the Enemy Properties case which Saif is also fighting over these properties. Saif Ali Khan is also the Nawab of Pataudi. What is this case, what does Saif stand to lose, and how did the Nawab of Pataudi inherit the Nawab of Bhopal's properties in the first place? We explain. What is this case? Saif Ali Khan inherited the Bhopal properties from his father's mother, Sajida Begum. Sajida's father, Hamidullah Khan, was the last ruling Nawab of Bhopal, holding the title till his death in 1960. His heir apparent had been his eldest daughter Abida Begum, but she migrated to Pakistan in 1950. Abida's younger sister Sajida then inherited the title, along with properties estimated to be worth over Rs 15,000 crore. Sajida Begum was married to Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, the Nawab of Pataudi. Iftikhar and Sajida's son was Mansoor Ali Khan 'Tiger Pataudi', the famous cricketer who married actor Sharmila Tagore. The couple's children are Saif, Soha, and Saba Ali Khan. The current case was filed 25 years ago by other family members of Hamidullah Khan, including his brother Obaidullah Khan and the third daughter Rabia Begum, who wanted a share of the Nawab's personal properties. They are seeking partition and succession of the Nawab's private properties as per Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Act, 1937, and first moved a trial court in this regard in 1999. A year later, they approached the Jabalpur bench of the Madhya Pradesh HC against the trial court's order. The appellant heirs contended that the trial court erroneously assumed that the private properties of the Nawab are part of the throne and will thus automatically pass on to the successor to the throne. The HC has now set aside the 1999 order and sent the matter back, directing that 'the trial Court shall make all possible efforts to conclude and decide it expeditiously, preferably within a period of one year.' This involves some prime real estate in and near Bhopal, including the Flag Staff House, where Saif spent his childhood, the luxury hotel Noor-Us-Sabah Palace, Dar-Us-Salam, Bungalow of Habibi, Ahmedabad Palace, and Kohefiza Property. After Abida Begum, the Nawab's heir apparent, went to Pakistan, these were declared 'enemy property'. Enemy property refers to the assets left behind in India by individuals who migrated to 'enemy nations'. Following the wars between India and Pakistan in 1965 and 1971, and the Sino-Indian War in 1962, the Indian government assumed control of properties and businesses owned by those who adopted the nationality of Pakistan or China. These properties were vested with the Custodian of Enemy Property for India. In January, the Madhya Pradesh High Court asked Saif Ali Khan to approach the appellate authority against the government's 'enemy property' order. It is not clear whether Saif, who was then recuperating from a knife attack by an intruder inside his home, moved the tribunal by January 12. Nawab Hamidullah Khan was the first man to rule Bhopal in five generations, only to be succeeded by his daughter again. Bhopal has had an interesting history of women Nawabs since 1819, when Begum Qudsia prevailed upon the British to allow daughters to inherit the throne. After Qudsia came the Begums Sikandar, Shahjahan, and Sultan Jahan. Begum Sultan Jahan, Hamidullah Khan's mother, was the first chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University. Abida Begum's son, Shaharyar Khan, eventually became Pakistan's foreign secretary. He has authored a book called The Begums of Bhopal.
Indian Express
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Saif Ali Khan loses Rs 15,000 cr ancestral properties in Bhopal, declared ‘enemy property' by HC: Here's the complete list
According to the latest development, Madhya Pradesh High Court has set aside a trial court order in the long-standing Bhopal royal family inheritance dispute, which deemed actor Saif Ali Khan, his sisters Soha and Saba, and mother Sharmila Tagore as the successors to the properties in an appeal by heirs of Nawab Hamidullah Khan, who challenged the previous property distribution that was in support of Sajida Sultan, the Nawab's daughter from great-grandmother of Khan. The earlier decision had given the ancestral property to Sajida Sultan. However, the heirs of erstwhile, who passed away in 1960, were wanting a partition of the private properties according to the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Act, 1937, which was applicable at the time of the then Nawab's death, and moved trial court in 1999. However, the High Court has now directed the trial court to start afresh with the proceedings and finish the hearing in one year. This order can alter the entire inheritance structure of the Bhopal royal family. The legal challenges for Saif Ali Khan increased after the Madhya Pradesh High Court rejected his plea against a government's decision to divide his family's Rs 15,000 crore worth ancestral properties in Bhopal as 'enemy property.' The proceedings are registered in a 2014 notice issued by the Custodian of Enemy Property Department, which declared the Pataudi family's assets in Bhopal under the Enemy Property Act. Some of the properties including in the ruling are Saif's childhood home Flag Staff House, the Noor-Us-Sabah Palace, Dar-Us-Salam, Bungalow of Habibi, Ahmedabad Palace, Kohefiza Property, among others. The Enemy Property Act allows the government to seize control of properties belonging to persons who migrated to Pakistan after the Partition. ALSO READ | Inside Saif Ali Khan's Rs 800 crore Pataudi Palace that sprawls across 10 acres: 150 rooms, lush gardens designed by the man behind Delhi's Connaught Place Saif had fought against the declaration in 2015 and got a temporary stay from the High Court. But, the court lifted the stay on December 13, 2024. In the latest order, they gave Saif and his family 30 days to approach and claim their rights back over the properties, but no claim has been filed within the allotted period. The Nawab of Bhopal, Hamidullah Khan, had three daughters. One of them, Abida Sultan, migrated to Pakistan, while others stayed in India. Saif is the grandson of the Abida's sister Sajida Sultan who remained in India, but the government is citing the migrant daughter as grounds to take control of the properties. On the work front, Saif Ali Khan was last seen in the Netflix film Jewel Thief. He will next appear in the fourth installment of his action-thriller franchise, Race. Additionally, he also has a film with Akshay Kumar titled Haiwaan, directed by Priyadarshan.
Indian Express
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
MP High Court remands property dispute involving heirs of ex-Bhopal Nawab, including Saif Ali Khan, back to trial court after 25 years
The Madhya Pradesh High Court on June 30 set aside a trial court order from over 25 years ago that had deemed Saif Ali Khan, his sisters and mother as the successors to the properties in appeals by heirs of the elder brother of the erstwhile Nawab of Bhopal. The heirs of erstwhile Nawab Hamidullah Khan of Bhopal, who passed away in 1960, as well as those of his elder brother, were seeking partition and succession of the private properties as per Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Act, 1937, as was in force at the time of the then Nawab's death, and moved trial court in this regard in 1999. Begum Suraiya Rashid, heir of Obaidullah Khan, the elder brother of the erstwhile Nawab of Bhopal Hamidullah Khan, and Qamar Taj Rabia Sultan, the Nawab's heir, represented by Advocate Aadil Boparia, filed appeals challenging a trial court order in 2000. The court decreed two personal properties in favour of the heirs of Sajida Sultan, the second daughter of Nawab Hamidullah, and Saif's paternal grandmother. Sajida was declared Nawab following Hamidullah's death, and she died in 1995. The decision of the trial court had come in partition suits moved by the heirs of the Nawab's family in 1999. After 25 years of the appeals being heard before the Jabalpur bench of the Madhya Pradesh HC, Justice Sanjay Dwivedi, in an order on June 30, allowed them. The bench, however, remanded all the parties back to the trial court, and granted the liberty to move an appropriate application before the trial court. The appellant heirs contended that the trial court erroneously assumed that the private properties of the Nawab are part of the throne and will thus automatically pass on to the successor to the throne. They argued that the properties have nothing to do with succession, and the partition of the properties will be governed by the personal law of succession. Concurring with the appellants' submissions, the Madhya Pradesh High Court said, '…The matters need to be remanded back to the trial Court for deciding it afresh because these are the suits for partition. And if ultimately, the trial Court comes to the conclusion that suits have to be allowed, then the share of the parties can be determined only by the trial Court while passing the preliminary decree, and that can be further finalised by the trial Court itself after carrying out the necessary formalities of partition.' 'Thus, in my opinion, the impugned judgment and decree deserve to be and are hereby set aside….It is made clear that since the suits were initially filed in the year 1999, therefore, the trial Court shall make all possible efforts to conclude and decide it expeditiously, preferably within a period of one year,' added the court.
