Madhya Pradesh High Court Sets Aside Order in Bhopal Riyasat Case, Remands back Saif Ali Khan’s Property Dispute For Fresh Trial

The Madhya Pradesh High Court observed that the order of the trial court regarding the partition of the properties of Nawab of Bhopal (ancestor of actor Sail Ali Khan) is to be remanded back for deciding the matter afresh.

The Court noted that the trial court, while deciding the issue on inheritance, relied on an overruled decision of the Supreme Court.

A bench of Justice Sanjay Dwivedi observed, “Thus, in view of the aforesaid enunciation of law and considering the respective provision under which the matter can be remanded, I am of the opinion that since the trial Court without considering the other aspects of the matter had dismissed the suits, that too relying upon the judgment which has already been overruled by the Supreme Court, the matters need to be remanded back to the trial Court for deciding it afresh because these are the suits for partition and if ultimately, the trial Court comes to the conclusion that suits have to be allowed then share of the parties can be determined only by the trial Court while passing the preliminary decree and that can be further finalized by the trial Court itself after carrying out the necessary formalities of partition. Thus, 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.”

Advocate Aadil Singh Bopari represented the Appellants, while Senior Advocate S. Sreevastava represented the Respondents.

Case Brief

A partition suit was filed for the estate left by the Nawab of Bhopal, Mohd. Hamidullah Khan. It was claimed by the Appellants that the suit property was the personal property of the Nawab. Thus, the partition of his personal property should have been done between the plaintiffs and defendants according to Muslim Personal Law, however, Sajida Sultan was declared Nawab (Ruler) upon the death of Nawab Hamidullah Khan and his personal property was also mentioned as the personal property of Sajida Sultan.

Further, The trial Court relied upon a judgment of the Allahabad High Court reported in Miss Talat Fatima Hasan Vs. His Highness Nawab Syed Murtaza Ali Khan Sahib Bahadur and Ors (1997) saying that the issue involved in the case is squarely covered. However, the said case later on got overruled by the Supreme Court in 2020.

Court’s Analysis

The Court opined that the trial court failed to consider the fact that the judgment relied upon has been overruled by the Supreme Court.

“In the existing facts and circumstances when the legal issue on which trial Court was relying upon has been reversed and the suits in question are of partition, therefore, in view of the provision of Order 14 Rule 23A of the CPC…I am of the opinion that these cases can be remanded back to the trial Court for deciding it afresh”, the Court observed.

Further, the Court observed that the trial Court without considering the other aspects of the matter had dismissed the suits, that too relying upon the judgment which has already been overruled by the Supreme Court, the matters need to be remanded back to the trial Court for deciding it afresh because these are the suits for partition and if ultimately, the trial Court comes to the conclusion that suits have to be allowed then share of the parties can be determined only by the trial Court while passing the preliminary decree and that can be further finalized by the trial Court itself after carrying out the necessary formalities of partition.

Accordingly, the Appeal was allowed.

Cause Title: Begum Suraiya Rashid & Ors Vs. Begum Mehr Taj Nawab Sajida Sultan & Ors

Appearance:

Appellant: Shri Aadil Singh Bopari, Shri Abhishek Dubey, Ms. Ayesha Jamal, Shri K. Jaggi, Shri Gurlabh Singh Sidhu – Advocates for the appellants.

Respondents: Shri S. Sreevastava – Senior Advocate with Shri Arjun Rao, Shri Sooraj Bajpai, Shri Aishwarya Vikram and Shri Shrikant Mishra, Shri Siddharth Sharma, Shri Adil Usmani, Shri Akhilesh Jain, Shri Sanjay Agrawal – Senior Advocate with Shri Sheersh Agrawal, Shri Sanjeev Tuli, Shri Varun Tankha and Shri Harshit Bari – Advocates for the respondents

Click here to read/download Judgment