The fate of properties worth Rs 15,000 crore owned by Bhopal's erstwhile rulers and inherited by actor Saif Ali Khan and his family remains uncertain due to ambiguity over filing an appeal against an order by the Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property, lawyers said.
If an appeal is not filed by the successors of Bhopal's Nawab against the order of the Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property for India, the properties may come under the control of the central government, they said.
It is not yet clear whether an appeal has been filed before the Mumbai-based Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property, which comes under the Union Home Ministry, following a Madhya Pradesh High Court order issued on 13 December 2024 on the matter.
Saif Ali Khan's mother, noted actress Sharmila Tagore (Pataudi), and others had challenged in the High Court the order dated 24 February 2015 of the Custodian of Enemy Property for India, which declared the Nawab of Bhopal's property as "Enemy Property".
The authority under the Home Ministry had issued its ruling on the grounds that Nawab Muhammad Hamidullah Khan's eldest daughter, Abida Sultan Begum, had migrated to Pakistan following the Partition. Consequently, all properties she was to inherit were declared enemy properties and vested in the Custodian of Enemy Property for India.
However, senior advocate and expert on the merger of Nawab properties, Jagdish Chhavani, said, quoting an order dated 10 January 1962, that after Nawab Hamidullah Khan's death in 1960, the Government of India had recognised Sajida Sultan Begum as the sole successor to all private properties, both movable and immovable, held by Nawab Hamidullah.
"The Government of India had no objection to such properties being transferred to Sajida Sultan Begum," he said.
Sajida Sultan Begum, the Nawab’s second daughter, inherited the properties as Abida had migrated to Pakistan. Later, Sajida's son, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi (Tiger Pataudi), became the successor, and after his death, Saif Ali Khan became the owner of these properties, now estimated to be worth nearly Rs 15,000 crore.
However, the 2015 order by the Custodian of Enemy Property brought the ownership into dispute, prompting Sharmila Tagore (Saif's mother and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi's wife) to challenge it in the High Court.
During a hearing on 13 December 2024, the government advocate informed the court that the Enemy Property Act 1968 had been repealed retrospectively in 2017, and an appellate authority had been constituted to adjudicate disputes related to enemy property.
In his order, Justice Vivek Agrawal stated: "In view of such facts, since a statutory remedy of filing a representation has been provided, parties are relegated to avail such remedy. However, at this distance of time, the issue of limitation may arise."
The judge directed that if a representation is filed within 30 days from the date of the order (13 December), the appellate authority should not consider the aspect of limitation and instead address the appeal on its merits. "In above terms, the petitions stand disposed of," the order added.
Bhopal Collector Kaushlendra Vikram Singh said he had not seen the High Court order and would comment only after reviewing all relevant details.
Advocate Chhavani stated that if Saif Ali Khan's family has not yet filed an appeal within the stipulated 30-day period, they can still approach the authorities and request an extension, citing various exigencies, including the recent attack on Saif Ali Khan at his Mumbai residence.
He added that until the matter is resolved, the fate of the lakhs of people occupying these properties as owners and tenants would remain uncertain.
The Enemy Property Act was passed by Parliament in the aftermath of the 1965 India-Pakistan war to regulate properties left behind in India by those who emigrated to Pakistan.
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