'Why Not Fatehpur Sikri, Taj Mahal?' Supreme Court Junks Mughal Heir's Claim On Red Fort
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A bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar said the plea filed by Sultana Begum was completely misconceived.
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea filed by a woman claiming to be the descendant of last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar and seeking possession of Red Fort on account of being the legal 'heir'.
A bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar said the plea filed by Sultana Begum, widow of great-grandson of Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar-II, was 'misconceived" and 'meritless" at the outset and refused to entertain the petition filed against the Delhi High Court order.
The CJI-led bench termed the plea as meritless and sarcastically asked the petitioner that if the petition is to be considered then 'Why only Red fort? Why not Fatehpur Sikri? Why leave them also. Writ is completely misconceived."
The bench did not allow the counsel for petitioner to withdraw the plea.
The counsel for the petitioner said that the Delhi High Court had dismissed the plea on ground of delay and not on merits, and asked the top court to grant the same concession. However, the top court rejected her request. 'No, dismissed," the bench ordered.
Sultana Begum, who lives in West Bengal's Howrah had filed a petition claiming that the family was deprived of their property by the Britishers after the first war of Independence in 1857, following which the emperor was exiled from the country and possession of the Red Fort was forcefully taken away from the Mughals.
It further claimed that Begum was the owner of the Red Fort as she is a direct descendant of the original owners, i.e., the Mughal emperors. Th plea claimed that she inherited it from her ancestor Bahadur Shah Zafar-II, who died on November 11, 1862 at the age of 82, and the government of India was an illegal occupant of the property.
The petition sought a direction to the Centre to hand over the Red Fort to the petitioner or give adequate compensation.
A division bench of the Delhi High Court, on December 13, last year, had dismissed the appeal by Begum against the December 2021 decision of a HC single judge, noting the challenge was filed after a delay of over two-and-a-half years, which could not be condoned.
Begum said she could not file the appeal owing to her bad health and passing away of her daughter.
'We find the said explanation inadequate, considering that the delay is of more than two-and-a-half years. The petition was also dismissed (by the single judge) for being inordinately delayed by several decades. The application for condonation of delay is dismissed. Consequently, the appeal is also dismissed. It is barred by limitation," the high court had said.
On December 20, 2021, the single judge dismissed Begum's petition seeking possession of the Red Fort taken illegally by the British East India Company, saying there was no justification for the inordinate delay in approaching the court after over 150 years.
(With inputs from agencies)
First Published:
May 05, 2025, 12:35 IST
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