New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Monday, rejected a petition by a woman claiming to be the descendant of Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar who sought possession of the Red Fort, citing her lineage.
Calling the petition completely misconceived, a bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar observed: “Why only the Red Fort? Why not Fatehpur Sikri? Why leave that? Writ is completely misconceived. Dismissed.”
The petitioner is one Sultana Begum who claims to be the widow of the great-grandson of Zafar, the last ruler of the Mughal dynasty. She asked the top court not to dismiss the plea on the grounds of delay. Sultana claimed that the Delhi High Court had dismissed her plea on grounds of delay.
The top court rejected her request though. “No, dismissed,” the bench said.
Last year, a division bench of the Delhi High Court dismissed Sultana’s plea, citing a delay of over 900 days in approaching it after it was rejected by a single-judge bench. She had said she could not file the appeal owing to her bad health.
She had first moved the high court in 2021, arguing that her family had been deprived of their property by the British after the first War of Independence in 1857.
After the war, Zafar was exiled to Rangoon (now Yangon in Myanmar). He died in 1862. Sultana claimed the possession of the Red Fort was then taken away from the Mughals.
She argued that the Red Fort was now under the “illegal occupation” of the Government and sought not only possession, but also compensation.
