An intriguing legal battle
A fortune so near yet so far
After a spell of smoggy, cloudy weather in Delhi, the crystal clear sunny day in mid January tempted me to undertake a joy walk in Lutyens Delhi. Curious to see the present state of central vista project under redevelopment of india gate and surrounding, I started my walk from Akbar road-India gate hexagon crossing towards India gate.
Crossing the india gate circle, I walked through Copernicus marg towards Mandi House from where I would catch metro to go back home.
I have driven innumerable time through India Gate circle with occasional glimpse of the vintage rail engine placed in front of Baroda house which is the citadel of NR headquarter.
A blue signboard informs that in every day from 5-30 evening to 8p.m, the loco wheels rotate with occasional blowing of whistle.
I was enjoying my leisurely walk through the footpath of Copernicus marg with big trees and small plants on both sides of walkway with a tranquil surrounding.
Being Sunday the traffic is minimal.
Next comes the National Green tribunal. After crossing it, a big chunk of land with an old fashioned gate, on which is written ‘Faridkot house’ on a marble plaque drew my attention.
Inside the walled area unkempt grass haphazardly laid trees is testimony that the place is not inhabited. Two security guards were sitting inside enjoying the winter sun. Watching that I am taking photo, one of them came near me. He told me the property is disputed one and no one stays here. I vividly remember reading an article few months back in HT about some high priced property law suit verdict awarded by SC.
Across the road guesthouses of Maharashtra, Haryana and Punjab are lined up. I went inside Haryana Bhawan to have some snacks and tea.
After independence like other Maharajas, Raja Harinder Brar entered into an legal agreement to retain control over some of his properties spread across three states. This includes Faridkot House at Copernicus Marg near India Gate in Delhi, a palace and Manimajra Fort, properties in Mashobra (Shimla), besides bank deposits, jewellery and vintage cars. The list also included 300 acres of land, an airport, three planes, and about two dozen buildings.
In today’s valuation it is worth more than 20 thousand crore.
The story is akin to many legal tussle going in India over generations for past hundred years to get final legal verdict as these type land dispute mired with involvement of many successors.
King Harinder Brar died in 1989. He had three daughters and a son. His son died in a car accident in 1981. The center point of dispute was the will executed by Brar in 1982. Before this Brar has executed three more wills, one in 1950 and the second one in 1952 and third one in 1955, each one superseding the earlier one.
The 1950 will, have equal share for some of his properties to three daughters. In the second will he excluded name of Amrit Kaur, apparently for marrying against his will. However Amrita reconciled with his father later on and in third will Brar gave him property share with a condition that she will get it after attaining age of 25 or before if she gets legal separation from her husband. It has to be kept in mind that Brar’s son was alive and he was supposed to get lion’s share of the property.
The 1982 will made by Brar after a year of his son’s death in a tragic accident, left his vast property in the hands of a trustee. This document said that all of the property would be managed by a caretaker trust, with the trustees including Amrita’s other two sisters and a relative of Harinder Singh's mother.
This will left Amrita Kaur high and dry. The protracted legal battle started in 1991 by Amrita Kaur challenging the will, claiming one third of property share. Her sisters Deepinder Kaur and Maheepinder Kaur and the other trustees were named as parties to the suit.The court battle prolonged nearly over forty years with the final curtain of the legal battle drawn in 2022 September after the delivery of verdict by Supreme Court.
To top it all Harinder Singh's younger brother, Kanwar Manjit Inder Singh, also filed a case, arguing that he was entitled to the estate as the closest surviving male relative.
In 2013, a trial court ruled in favour of Amrita Kaur on both the suits. It said the third will was not genuine and that Amrit Kaur was entitled to a half share of all the properties along with Deepinder Kaur (Maheepinder Kaur had died in 2001). The forensic expert established that the 1981 will was not genuine.
In 2020, the Punjab and Haryana high court upheld the trial court's decision and said that the last will was fabricated, following which Deepinder Kaur and trustee board took the case to top court.
In September, the Supreme Court
upheld the high court's order and ordered that the trust - which had been administering the properties until now - be immediately dissolved. The rest of the assets will now be divided between Amrit Kaur and the family of Deepinder Kaur, who died in 2018.
The court order came too late for the younger daughter Maheepinder Kaur who died in abject poverty in a small house situated in one corner of a 260 bigha property of Faridkot Maharaja at Mashoba near Shimla. Even though the complex boast of having few Mercedes cars, she had a Maruti van. She was surviving on a meagrely sum of 1700/- p.m provided by trust.
Now the wheel of fortune tilted towards Amrita who was once shunned by his father from property inheritance. The intriguing high octane drama for true inheritance of property worth 20,000 crore has long been a point of discussion in Indian elite circle and media. A fascinating story worth remembering.
Debadatta
17/01/2023
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