Saif Ali Khan has suffered a major legal setback over ancestral Bhopal estates worth around ₹15,000 crore. On June 30, the Madhya Pradesh High Court set aside a 2000 district court decision that favored Saif, his mother Sharmila Tagore, and sisters Soha and Saba. The court has remanded the dispute for a fresh trial, to be completed within a year.
The royal properties originally belonged to Nawab Hamidullah Khan, the last ruling Nawab of Bhopal before India’s independence. He had three daughters. While two, including Sajida Sultan (Saif’s grandmother), stayed in India, the eldest, Abida Sultan, migrated to Pakistan in 1950. After her migration, the Indian government later declared properties in her name as “enemy property” under the Enemy Property Act, a law introduced after the 1965 Indo-Pak war. It allows the government to seize assets of those who took Pakistani citizenship.
The legal fight began in 1999 when heirs from other branches of the Bhopal royal family sought a partition under the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Act, 1937. In 2000, the trial court ruled in favor of Saif’s family, treating the properties as royal assets passed through succession. But the High Court now says this was a mistake, as it did not consider them as private assets eligible for partition. The ruling also questioned whether the trial court relied on outdated legal precedent.
Saif’s family had contested the enemy property tag. Since Sajida Sultan never left India, they argued that their inheritance should remain unaffected. In 2015, they even obtained a temporary stay from the High Court against the seizure. However, that stay was lifted in December 2024. Saif and his relatives were given 30 days to reclaim ownership but failed to respond in time.
Among the listed properties are Saif’s childhood home Flag Staff House, Noor-Us-Sabah Palace, Dar-Us-Salam, Kohefiza estate, and several other royal bungalows in Bhopal. The fresh trial could potentially change the entire inheritance structure of the Bhopal royal family.
For Saif, the legal battle is both personal and historical. As the legal process restarts, his family’s century-old legacy now hangs in the balance.
