Saif Ali Khan, a Bollywood actor, is facing a legal battle over his ancestral properties in Bhopal. The properties, valued at Rs 15,000 crore, include the Noor-Us-Sabah Palace hotel, Flag Staff House, Dar-Us-Salam, Bungalow of Habibi, Ahmedabad Palace, and the Kohefiza Property. On June 30, the Madhya Pradesh High Court dismissed a plea filed by Khan and his family.
The court set aside an earlier trial court order that named Saif, his mother Sharmila Tagore, and sisters Soha and Saba as rightful heirs. This has reopened a decades-old inheritance dispute. The case revolves around the estate of Nawab Hamidullah Khan, the last ruling Nawab of Bhopal.
In 2000, a trial court recognized Saif and his immediate family as legal heirs to the estate. However, other descendants challenged this decision, arguing that the estate should be divided according to Muslim Personal Law, not royal succession. The High Court has now reversed the earlier decision and ordered the trial court to re-examine the case within a year.
Another legal hurdle is that the properties have been designated as “enemy property” by the government.
Inheritance battle over royal estate
In 2014, the Custodian of Enemy Property applied the Enemy Property Act of 1968 to the estate.
This was because Nawab Hamidullah Khan’s eldest daughter, Abida Sultan, migrated to Pakistan after Partition and gave up her Indian citizenship. Saif had contested this classification and secured a temporary stay in 2015. However, on December 13, 2024, the MP High Court dismissed his petition and lifted the stay.
The family was granted 30 days to approach an appellate tribunal, but it is unclear if they did. The Enemy Property Act, enacted in 1968, manages assets left behind in India by people who migrated to Pakistan or China during and after the Partition, and later wars. A 2017 amendment to the act barred Indian legal heirs of such individuals from claiming the properties and applied the law retrospectively.
Saif inherited the properties through his paternal grandmother, Sajida Sultan, who became the de facto ruler of Bhopal after her elder sister Abida renounced Indian citizenship. A 1962 government order had recognized Sajida as the sole successor to Nawab Hamidullah’s private properties. The outcome of these legal proceedings will significantly impact the Pataudi family’s legacy and their ties to Bhopal.
If Saif and his family do not successfully appeal to the designated tribunal, they might lose ownership of all properties listed under the Custodian’s notification.
