Islamabad, July 6, 2025: In a major legal upset, Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan has failed in his long-running effort to reclaim his inheritance property in Bhopal, estimated to be worth around Rs 15,000 crore. The Madhya Pradesh High Court has rejected his appeal against the government’s decision to label the vast property as “enemy property” under the Enemy Property Act.
This judgment has overturned a 2000 ruling by a lower court, which had acknowledged Saif, his mother Sharmila Tagore, and his sisters Soha and Saba Ali Khan as rightful owners of the estate. That decision was later challenged by other heirs of Nawab Hamidullah Khan, claiming that the inheritance should follow Muslim Personal Law.
The dispute traces back to Saif’s great-grandmother, Abida Sultan—daughter of Nawab Hamidullah Khan—who migrated to Pakistan after the Partition and gave up her Indian nationality. This move triggered the use of the Enemy Property Act, passed in 1958 and broadened after the 1965 India-Pakistan war, allowing the Indian government to seize the properties of those who moved to enemy countries.
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In 2014, the Custodian of Enemy Property officially declared the Bhopal royal family’s holdings as enemy property. Saif had challenged this ruling and obtained a temporary hold in 2015. However, on December 13, 2024, the court dismissed his plea and removed the stay order. Although Saif and his family were given 30 days to appeal to the appellate tribunal, no appeal was filed, clearing the way for the government to take control of the property.
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The High Court has now instructed the trial court to resume the case and deliver a final decision within a year, possibly reshaping the inheritance of the Bhopal royal family.
This ruling not only reopens a high-profile royal property dispute but also sparks fresh discussions over the Enemy Property Act’s effects on descendants of pre-Partition families. The Bhopal authorities are likely to start the process of taking over the estate soon.
