We have all seen the Red Fort, or the Lal Qila, a historical fort in Old Delhi.
I wouldn’t be remiss in saying that at least at some point or another, we have all gone there for a school picnic, not really taking in any of the history and instead enjoying the reprieve from the boring classrooms and uncomfortable chairs, and the mind-numbing lectures.
However, the 17th-century fort built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, which for almost 200 years was the main residence of several Mughal emperors, is in the spotlight due to an interesting court case.
The UNESCO World Heritage Site – a symbol of Mughal grandeur, Independence Day speeches, and countless tourist selfies – has just been claimed to be ancestral property of a woman who has now taken the fight to the courts. The woman recently approached the Supreme Court, insisting it belonged to her family, and the judges responded appropriately to the plea. Maybe next week, someone will demand the keys to the Taj Mahal or file for custody of the Qutub Minar. At this rate, India’s monuments might need legal bodyguards.
What Was The Case? The comment came from a hearing that a bench of Supreme Court (SC) judges was overseeing where a woman was seeking possession of the Red Fort. The bench, comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar, met with a woman who claims to be the widow of the great-grandson of Bahadur Shah Zafar II, the last Mughal emperor. This particular petition was challenging the decision to reject her original plea taken by the Delhi High Court.
The woman, called Sultana Begum, challenged the Delhi High Court’s 2021 judgment to reject her petition, where she claimed that she was the rightful owner of the Red Fort as a descendant of Bahadur Shah Zafar II, who owned the property. This would make it a property of inheritance. She also claimed that the British East India Company forcibly took possession of the Red Fort in 1857 and that the Indian government was illegally occupying the property.
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Begum’s plea further demanded that the respondent authorities compensate her for the “alleged illegal possession by the Government of India” as per Live Law from 1857 to the present. However, the SC dismissed this plea, and CJI Khanna further sarcastically asked the petitioner, “Why only the Red Fort? Why leave out the Fatehpur Sikri?” The CJI also stated, “The writ petition filed initially was misconceived and meritless. It cannot be entertained.”
In December 2024, Sultana Begum filed an appeal with a division bench of the Delhi High Court challenging the decision of the Delhi HC single judge verdict to dismiss her appeal from 2021. The division bench claimed that this was due to the delay of two and a half years in filing an appeal.
As per reports, when Begum claimed that the delay was due to poor health and her daughter passing away, the HC said, “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 2021 verdict also called into question whether the plea could be entertained as there was “inordinate delay” in approaching the courts of almost 150 years.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: Livemint, The Indian Express, Hindustan Times
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This post is tagged under: Red Fort, Red Fort mughal, Red Fort case, Red Fort supreme court, supreme court, sc, sc judges, cji, chief justice India, mughal, mughal descendant
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