The Madhya Pradesh High Court has set aside a 25-year-old order of a lower court, that had upheld the ownership of actor Saif Ali Khan and his family over properties worth thousands of crores inherited from the erstwhile rulers of Bhopal, ordering a retrial of the matter. 

In an order dated June 30, a single bench of Justice Sanjay Dwivedi set aside the judgement and decree of the district court in Bhopal, while asking it decide the matter afresh expeditiously, preferably within a year. 

The matter pertains to a ownership dispute among the descendants of the last ruler of the princely state of Bhopal, Nawab Hamidullah Khan, who had three daughters — Abida Sultan, Sajida Sultan and Rabia Sultan — with his first wife Maimoona Sultan. While Abida migrated to Pakistan, Sajida married Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi. Their son, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, former Indian cricket team captain, married actor Sharmila Tagore. 

The 2000 order of the trial court had declared the ownership of Ms. Tagore, her son Mr. Ali Khan, and her two daughters Soha Ali Khan and Saba Ali Khan. 

The order, however, was challenged by Begum Suraiya Rashid, granddaughter of Hamidullah Khan’s elder brother Obaidullah Khan, and Rabia Sultan through separate petitions in the High Court. They claimed that after Hamidullah Khan’s death in 1960, the properties should have been divided among the petitioners and the defendants — the Pataudi family as per the Muslim Personal Law. 

They also challenged a 1962 order of the Union Government that recognised Sajida Sultan, who was declared the Nawab of Bhopal after her father’s death, as the sole successor of the properties. 

Justice Dwivedi, however, said that the trial court had dismissed the plaintiff’s suits “without considering the other aspects of the matter” and by relying upon an order of the Allahabad High Court, which as later overruled by the Supreme Court. 

“In my opinion, the impugned judgment and decree deserve to be and are hereby set aside. The matters are remanded back to the trial Court for deciding it afresh and if so required, the trial Court can allow the parties to lead further evidence in view of the subsequent development and changed legal position. 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,” Justice Dwivedi said. 

The move is seen as a setback to the Pataudi family as the High Court, in December 2024, has already rejected Mr. Ali Khan’s 2015 plea challenging a Union Government order declaring the inherited properties worth around ₹15,000 crore as ‘enemy property’ under the Enemy Property Act.

The High Court had asked him to approach an appellate authority, constituted by the government for adjudication of disputes in regard to enemy property, with the matter. However, no appeal was reportedly filed within the given time frame. 

The assets include various luxury properties such as Bhopal’s Flag Staff House, a hotel, a palace and several acres of land in and around Bhopal.