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The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea of Sultana Begum, claiming to be the widow of late Mirza Mohammed Bedar Bakht, the great-grandson of Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, seeking possession of the Red Fort on account of being the legal 'heir'.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar dismissed her plea saying, "Why only Red fort? Why not Fatehpur Sikhri? Why leave them also. Writ is completely misconceived. Dismissed." Begum approached the apex court in an appeal against a division bench order of the Delhi High Court order which rejected her plea on December 13, 2024. High Court's division bench had rejected her plea filed against the December 2021 decision of a single judge of the court which also dismissed her plea. On December 20, 2021, a single judge bench of the High Court dismissed Begum's petition seeking possession of the Red Fort saying there was no justification for the inordinate delay in approaching the court after over 150 years. Begum had said she was "the rightful owner of Red Fort as she inherited this property from her ancestor Bahadur Shah Zafar II and the government of India is illegal occupant of such property". She claimed that the family was deprived of the property by the British after the First War of Independence in 1857, following which the emperor was exiled from the country and possession of the Red Fort was forcefully taken away from the Mughals. The plea sought a direction to the Centre to hand over the Red Fort to Begum or give adequate compensation, besides the compensation from 1857 to till date for alleged illegal possession by the government. She said that in 1960, the government, under the Prime Ministership of Jawaharlal Nehru, had recognised Mirza Muhammad Bedar Bakht as the inheritor of Bahadur Shah and granted a political pension. It was stated that on August 15, 1965, Begum married Bedar Bakht and after his death on May 22, 1980, Begum was granted a political pension by the then government from August 1, 1980. (ANI)
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