New Delhi: Growing fears around the possible demolition of a nearly 150-year-old notified heritage structure in Hyderabad have led the Telangana government to intervene.
The structure in question is the King Kothi, the residence of the seventh and the last Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan. The Rs 300 crore private property is currently at the centre of a civil dispute between Mumbai-based Neeharika Infrastructure Pvt Ltd and Kashmir-based Iris Hospitality.
Media reports about the alleged demolition of the property led to an outcry, forcing Arvind Kumar, Special Chief Secretary of Municipal Administration and Urban Development, which is responsible for the management of the state’s urban areas, to tweet on 17 April that both parties involved in the dispute had been told “not to alter/level” the structure.
Clarification
The #KingKoti palace is a Notified Heritage structure & can't be altered/modified /demolished without prior permission from GHMC"
Its in civil dispute.
All said owners are served notices not to alter/ level/ do anything
Police is asked to maintain vigil@serish https://t.co/mve1OaM1Rb pic.twitter.com/4v0ngRb8K7
— Arvind Kumar (@arvindkumar_ias) April 17, 2022
“It’s private property that is under civil dispute,” Kumar told The Print. “At the same time, King Kothi is a notified heritage structure. So, even if it’s a private structure, owners need to have the approval of the competent authority that is GHMC (Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation) to alter, modify or demolish.”
A notified heritage structure refers to any building of one or more premises, structures, and artifacts that requires conservation or preservation for historical, architectural, artisanal, aesthetic, cultural, or environmental purposes.
According to a central government document, no development, engineering operation, alterations, or renovations are allowed except with the prior permission of the commissioner, municipal corporation/vice-chairman, development authority.
Before granting such permission, the agency is expected to consult the heritage conservation committee (HCC).
Neeharika Infrastructure has denied having a hand in the alleged demolition. Amit Amla, one of the owners of Iris Hospitality, told ThePrint that he would not like to comment because the case was sub-judice.
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The dispute
King Kothi is a 2.5 lakh-square-foot property built by a nobleman Kamal Khan in the 1880s for his personal use.
Nizam VII, Mir Osman Ali Khan, who acquired the property later, moved into the estate after his ascension to the throne in 1911. It was here that he spent his last days before his death in 1967. It was among the three palatial structures that Osman Ali Khan claimed for his personal use after the princely state of Hyderabad merged with India.
Nazri Bagh Palace Trust, which became the custodian of the palace after the Nizam’s death, began negotiating the sale of the palace with Neeharika Infrastructure Pvt Ltd in 2011 but the sale was formally completed on 28 March this year.
The ongoing civil dispute began in 2019, when two former employees of Neeharika — Suresh Kumar and C. Ravindra — allegedly sold the Hyderabad palace to Iris Hospitality by fraud on behalf of the Mumbai-based firm.
Since then, both firms have been claiming the property, each accusing the other of “trespassing”. The dispute is currently sub-judice.
Only last week, the palace turned into a warzone with around 140 people storming in with swords and lathi to take possession.
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Reports of destruction
News reports Sunday — World Heritage Day — quoted residents living around the palace as complaining that their locality was covered in dust and that they could hear loud thuds from the palace complex. News reports also quoted the residents as claiming that the demolition contractors were taking down the insides of the palace while retaining its outer walls to hide their actions.
A report in The Hindu, which first broke the story, claimed builders employed by Neeharika Infrastructure Pvt Ltd had “flattened” the western part of the palace complex.
“A portion of the palace has been razed and smoothened into the flat ground with fresh earthmover marks,” the report said. “The old swimming pool, the well and the 101-room zenana (women’s quarters) have been left intact while the ceiling and walls were being pulled down using earthmovers.”
The news led to an outcry. Historian William Dalrymple called it “unforgivably stupid and short-sighted”, while writer and former Union secretary K. Sujatha Rao argued that, in any other country, it would have been turned into a museum.
This is so tragic and unforgivably stupid and short-sighted. Future generations trying to discover their past will never forgive this generation for allowing this destruction to happen.
King Kothi palace being razed to the ground https://t.co/AJT5Dcr6n6
— William Dalrymple (@DalrympleWill) April 17, 2022
https://t.co/6qTd9GsY0w sad to see a part of history go. In any country this would have been restored and made into a museum for people to see that period architecture. All we will get instead is a multistoreyed bldg, windowless and a sore to the eye?
— healthiswealth (@sujakrao) April 18, 2022
Kumar told ThePrint that “the complaint which was noticed on the tweet was that somebody was trying to level some of those areas”.
“That’s why immediately we took action and issued in writing that it’s a notified structure and also wrote to the police to ensure the protection that nothing should be touched there,” he said.
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‘Rightful owners’
Both Neeharika Infrastructure and Iris Hospitality claim they are the rightful owners of the property.
Advocate Alay Razvi, who represents Neeharika Infrastructure, told ThePrint that the company was the rightful owner of the palace and that they had a letter from Nazri Bagh Palace Trust handing over its possession. “Question of destruction does not arise,” Razvi said.
“The Hindu reporter might have heard from someone about demolition taking place. But Mr Arvind Kumar tweeted that nothing has been done — they have verified, and inspected the site… The area around the palace is populated, if something like this happens don’t you think people will be vigilant and file a complaint? All of this is just news. The palace is intact,” Razvi said.
The tweet Razvi’s referring to neither confirms nor denies any alterations at the site.
However, a notice from the GHMC, which inspected the site Sunday after the publication of The Hindu report, said: “During the inspection, no earthmover vehicles were noticed at the site. However, marks of some vehicles have been noticed and as inquired from the persons available at the site, it was informed that the earlier vehicle was brought for levelling and clearing the trees and bushes over the site”.
On his part, Amla of Iris Hospitality said their lawyers had asked them to refrain from making any comment for a few days until they had a press statement prepared.
“We are the rightful owners,” he said. “We are a family from Kashmir, a minority family and our experience in Hyderabad has not been great… If you’ll check records you’ll see it (the land) belongs to us,” he said.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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