Madhya Pradesh HC Orders Fresh Trial in Saif Ali Khan’s ₹15,000 Crore Inheritance Case

Ziya Khan 1 week agoLast Updated: July 6, 2025

Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan and his family have faced a significant legal blow after the Madhya Pradesh High Court overturned a 25-year-old ruling that supported their claim to ancestral property valued at approximately Rs 15,000 crores. The court has mandated a fresh trial in the long-standing inheritance dispute involving the former royal family of Bhopal.

The contested property originates from the princely state of Bhopal and was inherited by Saif Ali Khan, his mother Sharmila Tagore, and his sisters Soha and Saba Ali Khan, following the death of Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, a former Indian cricket captain and Nawab of Pataudi.

In 2000, a district court in Bhopal had ruled that the Pataudi family was the rightful heir to the estate, based on the lineage from Saif’s grandmother, Sajida Sultan, who was the daughter of the last ruling Nawab of Bhopal, Hamidullah Khan. However, in a significant ruling, Justice Sanjay Dwivedi of the Madhya Pradesh High Court overturned this decision, stating that the trial court relied on a precedent which has since been overruled by the Supreme Court.

Justice Dwivedi remarked, “I am of the opinion that the trial court, without considering other aspects of the matter, had dismissed the suits, relying upon the judgment which has already been overruled by the Supreme Court. Thus, the impugned judgment and decree deserve to be set aside.”

The High Court has directed the trial court to re-evaluate the case from the beginning and has allowed all parties to present new evidence in light of recent legal developments. The fresh trial is to be conducted expeditiously, ideally within a year.

This legal battle traces back to the inheritance of the personal property of Nawab Hamidullah Khan, the last ruling Nawab of Bhopal, who had three daughters: Abida, Sajida, and Rabia. Sajida Sultan, who married Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, was declared the heir after her sister Abida migrated to Pakistan. The inheritance was formalized in 1962 with a government-issued certificate naming Sajida as the sole inheritor.

Sajida’s son, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, inherited the estate, which eventually passed to Saif, Soha, and Saba.

However, other heirs of the Nawab, including Begum Suraiya Rashid and Nawab Mehr Taj Sajida Sultan, contested the inheritance, arguing that the property distribution was unjust and violated Muslim Personal Law. Their suit, initially dismissed in 2000, has now been revived by the High Court.