Court Rejects Saif Ali Khan’s Plea In ‘Enemy Property’ Dispute Over Royal Assets
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has rejected Saif Ali Khan’s plea in the enemy property case, reviving a decades-old inheritance dispute involving ancestral lands in Bhopal and Raisen.
In a major legal development, actor Saif Ali Khan and his family have suffered a setback after the Madhya Pradesh High Court dismissed their long-standing plea in the high-profile 'enemy property' case. The court overturned a 2000 ruling by a Bhopal trial court, which had recognized Saif, his mother Sharmila Tagore, and sisters Soha and Saba Ali Khan as rightful heirs to their ancestral properties in Madhya Pradesh.
These properties, which include landmark estates such as the Flag House in Kohefiza, Ahmedabad Palace, and areas in Chiklod (Raisen district), are now back in legal limbo. The High Court has instructed the trial court to rehear the matter and reach a verdict within one year.
The 'Enemy Property' Tag and Its Origins
The dispute stems from the Enemy Property Act of 1968, which empowers the Indian government to claim properties of individuals who migrated to Pakistan after Partition. The central government invoked this Act, arguing that since Abida Sultan, daughter of the last Nawab of Bhopal, Nawab Hamidullah Khan,moved to Pakistan in 1950, the family’s estates fell under this law.
However, Sajida Sultan, the Nawab’s second daughter and grandmother to Saif Ali Khan, remained in India and was declared the legal successor under Article 366(22) of the Constitution. In fact, she was also officially recognized as the Nawab after her father’s death in 1960.
Court Questions Previous Rulings
The High Court criticized the earlier Bhopal District Court’s decision for relying solely on the Allahabad High Court’s interpretation without examining other critical legal factors. The judgment noted that the Bhopal Throne Succession Act, 1947, cited by the plaintiffs, had already been struck down by the Supreme Court and should not have influenced the previous ruling.
Notably, the appeal was originally filed in 2000 by several descendants of the Bhopal royal family, including Begum Suraiya Rashid and Begum Mehar Taj, arguing that under Muslim personal law, the property should have been divided among all legal heirs.
Inheritance Dispute Reignited
In 2015, the Enemy Property Custodian Office declared the Nawab’s lands as government-owned, prompting Saif Ali Khan and family to take legal recourse. Although the court recognized Sajida Sultan as the legal heir in 2019, the involvement of Abida Sultan, who migrated to Pakistan, complicated the matter, enabling the central government to claim the properties under the Enemy Property Act.
Now, with the High Court's latest directive, the case will be revisited in full, setting the stage for another round in this decades-old legal battle.
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