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HomeJudiciarySC ends 30-yr feud over Rs 20,000 cr royal properties, Faridkot princesses...

SC ends 30-yr feud over Rs 20,000 cr royal properties, Faridkot princesses to get lion’s share

SC upheld Punjab & Haryana HC's verdict that the will of Maharaja Harinder Singh Brar, the last ruler of Faridkot, was 'forged, fictitious and shrouded in suspicious circumstances'.

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court Wednesday brought down the curtains on a 30-year-old royal dispute involving properties worth over Rs 20,000 crore, ruling in favour of the two surviving daughters of Sir Harinder Singh Brar, the last ruler of the erstwhile princely state of Faridkot. 

A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) U.U. Lalit, after having reserved its verdict in July this year, upheld a Punjab & Haryana High Court order dealing with the succession of the maharaja’s property.

The court further ordered the immediate dissolution of the Maharawal Khewaji Trust, which had been administering the ruler’s properties until now.

The erstwhile king of Faridkot had movable and immovable assets in multiple states, including Punjab, Delhi and Haryana. His prominent properties include the Raj Mahal and Qila Mubarak in Faridkot, a charitable hospital, and Faridkot House on Delhi’s Copernicus Marg, among others.


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1948 Act & mystery will

Maharaja Harinder Singh, the then ruler of Faridkot, had entered into an instrument of accession with the Union of India in 1948. Through this instrument, he transferred the princely state’s administration, rights, authority and jurisdiction to the Union. 

However, the maharaja — the father of three daughters and a son — was entitled to full ownership of his private properties.

He then enacted the Raja Faridkot Estate Act, 1948, declaring that in the event of his death, the ownership of his estate would be transferred to his male successor.

But soon after the enactment, the maharaja’s only son, Tikka Harmohinder Singh, died in a road accident along with his wife Narinder Kaur.

Following Maharaja Harinder Singh’s own death in 1989, a will surfaced. 

According to this will, the ruler’s properties were to be divided in equal shares between his two daughters, Rajkumari Deepinder Kaur and Rajkumari Maheepinder Kaur. The will excluded the maharaja’s third daughter, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, as she had married against the wishes of her father.

This will — executed in 1952 — specified that the maharaja’s properties were to be inherited by the Maharwal Khewaji Trust of which his daughters Deepinder and Maheepinder were to be trustees, among others.

In 1992, the ruler’s eldest daughter, Amrit Kaur, filed a plea before the Chandigarh district court, challenging the will. 

Her contention was that her father could not have legally bequeathed his properties to the Maharwal Khewaji Trust since the family was governed by Hindu Joint Family law. Amrit Kaur, through her legal representatives, also raised questions about the authenticity of her late father’s will.

Supreme Court’s orders

Deciding on the plea 21 years later, in 2013, the Chandigarh district court ruled that the will executed in 1952 was invalid, void and unenforceable.

The court then granted the inheritance to the two surviving daughters, Amrit and Deepinder; Maheepinder Kaur died under mysterious circumstances in 2001.

The district court’s order was challenged by Rajkumari Deepinder Kaur, the Trust and the other trustees before the Punjab & Haryana High Court, which upheld the order in 2020.

The high court further ruled that the descendants of Manjit Inder Singh, the maharaja’s brother, would be entitled to their mother Mohinder Kaur’s share.

Moreover, the high court also said that the trustees “conspired” to create the will and to take over the maharaja’s property, ruling that the will in question was “forged, fictitious, fabricated and shrouded in suspicious circumstances”.

The Maharawal Khewaji Trust, however, challenged the HC’s order in the Supreme Court that same year. In 2021, the apex court ordered that the trust may continue as a caretaker and ‘status quo’ be maintained.

Citing the Raja Faridkot Estate Act, 1948, petitioners invoked the “Rule of Primogeniture” in the Supreme Court to argue that the properties left behind by the maharaja must be inherited by his male successor, his brother Kunwar Manjit Inder Singh, followed by his son, Bharat Inder Singh.

“In view of the specific finding rendered by the courts below, including the High Court, in our view, no case was made out for the applicability of Rule of Primogeniture and succession based on said Rule,” the Supreme Court said in its verdict Wednesday.

(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)


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