The possibility of government taking possession of property worth Rs 15,000 crore of Saif Ali Khan’s family in Bhopal under the Enemy Property Act has increased. The district administration can start action after the stay of Madhya Pradesh High Court is lifted. However, the Saif family has the option of appeal.
By Neeraj Pandey
Published Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2025 10:56:51 PM (IST)
Updated Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2025 10:56:51 PM (IST)
HighLights
- After going to Pakistan the property was declared government.
- The family of Sajida Sultan, the Nawab’s second daughter, claimed.
- The High Court had imposed a stay in 2015, which has now been lifted.
Naidunia Representative, Jabalpur/Bhopal: The possibility of the Bhopal-based property of film actor Saif Ali Khan’s family having an estimated value of Rs 15 thousand crores going into the possession of the government has increased.
As soon as the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s stay on these properties belonging to the princely state of Bhopal was lifted since 2015, the Bhopal district administration has become free to hand over the properties. He can start its action anytime. However, the Saif family still has the option to file an appeal before the double bench of the High Court.
Dispute over property since 2015
The controversy arose due to a notification issued in 2015 by the Enemy Property Custodian Office regarding the immovable property located in Bhopal of Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, the famous cricket player and heir of the princely state of Bhopal, father of film actor Saif Ali Khan.
Government declared under enemy property law
In this notification, the properties of the Pataudi family were declared government under the Enemy Property Act. The notification said that the heir to Nawab Hamidullah Khan’s property was his elder daughter Abida Sultan, who migrated to Pakistan. In such a situation, their property comes under the ambit of enemy property.
This action was opposed by Sharmila Tagore, Saif Ali Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Saba Ali Khan and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi’s sister Sabiha Sultan on behalf of the family of the Nawab’s second daughter Sajida Sultan, claiming that the Nawab’s property They are the heirs. None of them went to settle in Pakistan.
The last hearing in this case was held in the main division bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court in Jabalpur on 13 December last year in 2024. Bhopal Collector Kaushalendra Vikram Singh says that after taking legal advice on the order of the High Court, action will be taken as per rules.
The High Court had earlier given opportunity for representation
A single bench of Justice Vivek Aggarwal of the High Court had directed actresses Sharmila Tagore, Saif Ali Khan and Sabiha Sultan to submit representations before the Central Government against declaring the Pataudi family’s property as enemy property. The court had told the Center that if the representation is presented within 30 days, it should be resolved on merits.
85 percent of the properties under dispute have been sold.
The status of the property of Pataudi family which was declared as government, is still disputed. After the 2013 survey, the Bhopal district administration had stated the number of enemy and evacuee properties belonging to the Nawab family to be 24. In 2015 their number was reduced to only 16.
At the same time, only one property registered in the name of Abida Sultan, who settled in Pakistan in 2016, could be identified. Of the 150 acres of land and properties that are considered enemy property, 85 percent of them have been sold. One and a half lakh people are living on this property extending from Sand Ghat to Khanugaon.
