Meet the woman who claimed to be the ‘legal heir’ of the Red Fort
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- The petitioner stated that she was the widow of Bahadur Shah Zafar-II, great-grandson of Delhi
- Delhi High Court dismissed his petition
- Court said that after more than 150 years there is no justification for delay in approaching the court
A woman had recently approached the Delhi High Court seeking a direction to the Center to hand over the Red Fort of Delhi to her. The matter has been in the limelight ever since it first appeared in the media.
Sultana Begum’s petition sought a direction to the Center to hand over the Red Fort to the petitioner or to pay him adequate compensation and compensation for the alleged illegal occupation by the government from 1857 till date.
Petitioner Sultana Begum submitted that she was the widow of late Mirza Mohammad Bedar Bakht, who died on May 22, 1980. He said that she was the widow of Bahadur Shah Zafar-II, great-grandson of Delhi and that her rights had been taken away by the British East. India Company arbitrarily and coercively. He moved the court on December 20 and demanded that the Red Fort, which was illegally captured, be handed over to him on the ground that he was the legal heir.
The petition, filed through advocate Vivek More, claimed that the family was deprived of their property by the British after the First War of Independence of 1857, after which the king was exiled from the country and captured the Red Fort. was done. Mughals.
The petition states that the woman is the owner of the Red Fort as she had inherited the property from her ancestor Bahadur Shah Zafar-II, who died in November 1862 at the age of 82, and alleged that the Government of India had illegal occupation. ,
Dismissing the petition, Justice Rekha Palli observed that there was no justification for inordinate delay in approaching the court after more than 150 years. The judge said: “My history is very weak but you claim that injustice was done to you by the British East India Company in 1857.
Why is there a delay of more than 150 years? What were you doing all these years?” The court said, ‘Everyone knew about this. Everyone in the court must have read the history that he was attempting exile. The world knew this. Why was nothing filed on time? If her ancestors hadn’t done it, can she do it now?” The court also rejected the contention made by the counsel for the petitioner that she was an illiterate woman due to which she could not have contact earlier.
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