Madhya Pradesh High Court Orders Fresh Trial in Saif Ali Khan’s ₹15,000 Crore Inheritance Battle – A New Chapter Unfolds
Madhya Pradesh High Court Orders Fresh Trial in Saif Ali Khan’s ₹15,000 Crore Inheritance Battle
In a dramatic legal twist, the Madhya Pradesh High Court has ordered a fresh trial in Saif Ali Khan’s inheritance dispute, challenging the future of the Pataudi family’s ₹15,000 crore legacy. What does this mean for Saif, his family, and royal legacies in India?
In a stunning turn of events, the Madhya Pradesh High Court has ordered a fresh trial in the ongoing inheritance dispute involving Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan and his family.
On July 6, 2025 at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh The ruling could dramatically alter the trajectory of the Pataudi family’s legacy, with stakes as high as ₹15,000 crore. A case that has captured public attention for decades, this legal battle touches on everything from royal inheritance to national security laws.
Key Facts:
- The High Court annulled a 25-year-old trial court decision that had favored Saif Ali Khan and his family as rightful heirs.
- The case centers on properties linked to Saif Ali Khan’s ancestral royal estate, originally under the princely state of Bhopal.
- The properties were seized under the Enemy Property Act, which allows the government to claim assets of those who migrated to Pakistan after the 1947 Partition.
- The fresh trial will re-evaluate the legal standing of the inheritance, including the implications of royal succession laws.
Court Reverses 2000 Decision in Pataudi Family Inheritance Case
The Pataudi family’s long-running inheritance issue has seen a major legal change. A Bhopal district court said in 2000 that the Pataudi dynasty, through Saif Ali Khan’s grandmother, Sajida Sultan, the daughter of the last Nawab of Bhopal, Hamidullah Khan, were the lawful heirs to the estate. Justice Sanjay Dwivedi of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has just overruled this decision, saying that it was based on a precedent that the Supreme Court had already thrown out.
Justice Dwivedi said, “The trial court threw out the cases without looking at all the facts, based on a decision that the Supreme Court has since overturned.” So, the judgement and decree in question are now null and void.
The High Court has said that the case needs to be looked at again from the outset, and all sides can present new evidence because the law has changed. The court has ordered that the new trial be finished as soon as possible, preferably within a year.The inheritance of Nawab Hamidullah Khan’s personal property is what this lawsuit is about. He was the last governing Nawab of Bhopal and had three daughters: Abida, Sajida, and Rabia. After her sister Abida moved to Pakistan, Sajida Sultan, who married Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, was named the heir to the land. The Government of India made the succession official in 1962 by giving Sajida a document that said she was the only heir.
Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Sajida’s son, got the estate, which he then gave to his children, Saif, Soha, and Saba. But other descendants of Nawab Hamidullah, like Begum Suraiya Rashid and Nawab Mehr Taj Sajida Sultan, fought for the inheritance, saying that the way the property was divided was unfair and did not follow Muslim Personal Law.
The lawsuit was thrown out in 2000, but the High Court’s recent ruling has brought it back to life. The ruling also talked with the 1949 Instrument of Accession, which made the princely state of Bhopal part of India. It said that the Nawab still had rights to his personal property and that the Bhopal Succession to the Throne Act, 1947, should be used to choose a new ruler.
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