Actor Saif Ali Khan, who is recovering from a recent stabbing attack at his home, is now embroiled in a legal battle regarding his ancestral property worth Rs 15,000 crore following a recent ruling by the Madhya Pradesh High Court. The court lifted the 2015 stay on the Pataudi family’s lavish historical properties, bringing the government one step closer to potentially acquiring these assets under the Enemy Property Act of 1968.
The single bench, led by Justice Vivek Agarwal, noted that a statutory remedy exists under the amended Enemy Property Act of 2017. He directed the parties involved to file a representation within 30 days.
Among the properties included in the ruling are Saif’s childhood home, Flag Staff House, the Noor-Us-Sabah Palace, Dar-Us-Salam, the Bungalow of Habibi, Ahmedabad Palace, Kohefiza Property, and others. The court had been hearing Saif Ali Khan’s challenge since 2015 when the Pataudi family moved court after the Custodian of Enemy Property Department declared the Bhopal Nawab’s assets as government property.
Notably, Saif Ali Khan is the son of late cricketer and Nawab of Pataudi, Mansoor Ali Khan and his wife, actor Sharmila Tagore. He is the eldest of their children and has sisters Saba Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan as well.
WHAT ARE ENEMY PROPERTIES?
Properties left behind in India by people who took Pakistani and Chinese citizenship are considered “enemy properties”, according to the Enemy Property Act of 1968.
The Enemy Property Act was enacted in 1968, three years after the India-Pakistan War of 1965, to regulate such properties and list the custodian’s powers. The same was done for property left behind by those who went to China after the 1962 Sino-Indian war (which began on 20th October 1962).
The Enemy Property Act 1968 defined an ‘enemy’ as a country (and its citizens) that committed external aggression against India (i.e., Pakistan and China). Enemy property means any property for the time being belonging to or held or managed on behalf of an enemy, an enemy subject or an enemy firm.
Provisions of the Enemy Property Act allow the Centre to claim properties owned by individuals who migrated to Pakistan post-Partition. The ownership of these properties was passed on to a government department known as the Custodian for Enemy Property in India.
This Enemy Property Act was amended in 2017. According to the amended act, enemy property refers to any property belonging to, held, or managed on behalf of an enemy, an enemy subject, or an enemy firm.
One of the key provisions of the 2017 amendment was the removal of the rights of heirs to inherit enemy property. Specifically, it stated:
“Any enemy property shall continue to be vested in the Custodian of Enemy Property for India and shall not be restored to any person or entity, including heirs or legal representatives.“
As of April 2024, there were a total of 12,611 establishments called ‘enemy property’, roughly estimated to be worth over Rs 1 lakh crore, in the country.
ARE PATAUDI ASSETS ‘ENEMY PROPERTY’?
In 2014, the Custodian of Enemy Property Department declared the Pataudi family’s properties in Bhopal as “enemy property.” This declaration was based on the 1947 migration of Abida Sultan, the eldest daughter of Nawab Hamidullah Khan, the Nawab of Bhopal. After Abida Sultan migrated to Pakistan in 1950, the Indian government considered the properties linked to her family as enemy property, citing her migration as the reason.
Sajida Sultan, Abida’s sister, remained in India, married Nawab Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, and became the legal heir to the properties. Her grandson, Saif Ali Khan, later inherited a share of these properties. However, the government’s classification of the properties as “enemy property” was based on Abida Sultan’s migration to Pakistan, despite the fact that Sajida Sultan was recognised as the legal heir.
The issue was further complicated in 2016 when an ordinance from the Government of India stated that heirs would have no rights over enemy properties, intensifying the legal dispute over the Pataudi family’s assets. Despite Sajida Sultan being legally recognised as the rightful heir, the ongoing legal battle, including recent court rulings, has continued to fuel the controversy surrounding the family’s properties.
Notably, Saif Ali Khan, the current titular ‘Nawab of Bhopal’, owns the Pataudi Flag House located in Bhopal’s Kohefiza area, near the Ahmedabad Palace. Saif inherited the house after the death of his father, Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, the last Nawab of Pataudi, in September 2011.