Kin of Bahadur Shah Zafar-II seeks possession of Red Fort

The Delhi High Court on Friday rejected the plea of the widow of the great-grandson of Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar-II, seeking possession of the Red Fort on account of being the legal heir.

A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela dismissed the appeal by Sultana 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 earlier owing to her bad health and the passing 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 Bench 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.

The petition, filed through advocate Vivek More, claimed the family was deprived of their property by the British, following 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 asserted that Begum was the owner of the Red Fort as she inherited it from her ancestor Bahadur Shah Zafar-II, who died on 11 November 1862 at age 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, besides the compensation from 1857 to date for the alleged illegal possession by the government.