• Source:JND
Add as a preferred

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has turned the tables on Saif Ali Khan and his family, as it has struck down a decades-old order that secured their rights over the royal properties in Bhopal worth Rs 15,000 crore. The Madhya Pradesh High Court recently classified these properties as 'enemy property', dealing a major legal and emotional blow to one of India's most prominent royal dynasties. The verdict overturns a previous 1999 decision and raises important questions over succession laws, land ownership after Partition and the implications of being a member of a royal family in modern India.

For years, Saif Ali Khan, along with his mother Sharmila Tagore and sisters Saba and Soha Ali Khan, were recognised as the legal heirs to these vast ancestral properties in and around Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal. However, this status has now become uncertain. The family had long maintained its claim over the properties inherited from Hamidullah Khan, the last Nawab of Bhopal, and his maternal great-grandfather.

These lush properties include the Noor-Us-Saba Palace (now a 5-star hotel), the Flag Staff House (Saif's childhood home) and thousands of acres of land. For nearly 25 years, a lower court verdict had confirmed their ownership, but now a new High Court ruling has brought the entire matter into dispute again.

The actor will now face a legal battle to retain possession of his inheritance and properties. The High Court has directed the lower court to re-examine the case and give a fresh verdict within a year. Additionally, the actor will also have to challenge the government's designation of the property as 'enemy'. This legal battle comes in a challenging year for him, as he was stabbed and injured during a home invasion in January, in early 2025.

Why Is Saif Ali Khan Is Set To Lose His Ancestral Properties?

In 2000, a lower court in Madhya Pradesh declared Saif Ali Khan and his family (mother Sharmila Tagore and sisters Soha and Saba Ali Khan) as the legal heirs to the Bhopal properties, which they inherited from Sajida Sultan, the second daughter of Hamidullah Khan and Saif Ali Khan’s grandmother.

The decision was challenged by other descendants of Hamidullah Khan on the grounds that the property of the last Nawab of Bhopal should be divided according to Muslim personal law. The other descendants include the family of Abida Sultan Begum, Sajida Sultan’s elder sister, who migrated to Pakistan during Partition.

Last week, the High Court agreed with this argument and reopened the succession case. As a result, if the lower court now overturns its previous decision, Saif Ali Khan could lose a significant part of his family's inheritance from Hamidullah Khan and Sajida Sultan.

In 1962, the Jawaharlal Nehru-led government had recognised Sajida Sultan Begum as the sole heir to all personal properties of Nawab Hamidullah and did not object to the property transfer. Based on this historical claim, Saif Ali Khan contested the recent government action in court and obtained a temporary stay.

But in December 2024, the High Court dismissed his petition, lifting the stay and giving him 30 days to appeal. The court gave the decision on the ground that the government has repealed the Enemy Property Act of 1968 with retrospective effect and created a new authority (Custodian of Enemy Property) in Mumbai to review such cases. This same authority had rejected the original notice of 1962 in which Sajida Sultan was considered the heir.

It is not clear whether Saif Ali Khan was able to appeal in time, as he was attacked with a knife on January 16, due to which he had to stay in the hospital for a long time.

What Is Enemy Property?

Enemy property refers to property left in India by persons who migrated to Pakistan or China as a result of the Partition of 1947 or subsequent wars and acquired citizenship of those countries. These properties are managed under the "Enemy Property Act". This law empowers the Indian government to take control of such properties and manage them, and also prohibits the heirs or descendants of such persons from making any legal claim over them.

How Enemy Property Act Affects Saif’s Royal Inheritance?

54-year-old Saif Ali Khan is the great-grandson of Hamidullah Khan, the last Nawab of Bhopal. The basis of this inheritance was his grandmother, Sajida Sultan, who was the Nawab's second daughter. After Partition, when the Nawab's first daughter, Abida Sultan, moved to Pakistan, Sajida Sultan, who remained in India, became her father's successor and inherited his properties.

She married Nawab Iftikhar Ali Khan of Pataudi, and the property was inherited first by their son Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and later by their grandson Saif Ali Khan and his sisters Soha and Saba Ali Khan.

Based on this inheritance, the government issued a notice in 2014, arguing that since Hamidullah Khan's natural heir (eldest daughter Abida) became a citizen of Pakistan, her property worth Rs 15,000 crore should be considered 'enemy property' under the Enemy Property Act of 1968 and can be confiscated by the government.

The recent High Court verdict has effectively nullified the previous judgment that legalised the Pataudi family's ownership of the property. Justice Sanjay Dwivedi has returned the case to the lower court for reconsideration. The lower court has been directed to review all the relevant claims afresh and conclude its proceedings within a period of one year. Until this process is completed and a new verdict is given, Saif Ali Khan and his family cannot officially claim these properties.

What’s Next?

After the High Court remanded the case for reconsideration, the district court will now examine every aspect of the case afresh. The decision has not only revived old differences within the Nawab family but also given rise to a new analysis of the political implications of royal succession in independent India. Until the district court takes a final decision, the Pataudi family's right to the Bhopal property will remain legally uncertain.