Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has rejected a petition filed by a woman who claimed to be the descendant of Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar and sought the 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 on May 5 said, “Why only Red Fort? Why not Fatehpur Sikri? Why leave them also? Writ is completely misconceived. Dismissed,” the court said, according to a Bar and Bench report.
The petition was filed by one Sultana Begum, who claimed to be the widow of the great-grandson of Bahadur Shah Zafar. Zafar was the last ruler of the Mughal dynasty.
The petitioner asked the top court not to dismiss the plea on the grounds of merit. Begum argued that even the Delhi High Court had dismissed her plea on grounds of delay.
However, the top court rejected her request. “No, dismissed,” the Bench ordered.
Last year, a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court dismissed Begum’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.
Begum 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, who became the face of the Indian rebellion, was exiled to Rangoon (now Yangon in Myanmar). He died in 1862. Begum 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 possession as well as compensation.
