Saif Ali Khan property row with Pak kin

Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan — the great grandson of Nawab Hamidullah Khan, the last Nawab of Bhopal — is facing a new challenge. Yasser Mirza from Pakistan, claiming to be a great grandson of the Nawab, has laid claim to his property in Bhopal.

The 29-year-old dentist, who was a resident of Lahore, Pakistan, till about three weeks ago, returned to India on an emergency passport through the Wagah border in Amritsar, Punjab, on September 29. Mirza claims his grandmother Rabia Sultan, who lived and died in Bhopal, was the Nawab's youngest daughter and by that lineage, he is the rightful heir to the property as per law.

According to the impleadment application filed in the Jabalpur High Court, Mirza seeks to be recognised as a legal heir of Nawab Hamidullah Khan, thereby allowing him to contest the claim on around 30 disputed properties worth crores of rupees.

However, according to a response in court, the actor and his mother Sharmila Tagore have contested Mirza's claim on the grounds that he was a Pakistani citizen and therefore not a legal heir, as per the Defence Rules and under the Enemy Property Rights Act. In their submissions, Khan alleged that his grandmother Nawab Sajida Begum is the "sole successor" to all properties — movable and immovable. 

Responding to these claims, advocate Arjun Bobde submitted that even though his client Mirza lived in Pakistan, he was still an Indian citizen. The Jabalpur High Court is likely to hear the final arguments in this matter on October 24.

Speaking to DNA, Mirza clarified that though he was born in Nagpur, Maharashtra, he spent a significant amount of time in Bhopal. "I shifted to Lahore with my mother many years ago, and though my passport lapsed, I did not relinquish my Indian citizenship," Mirza said.

"I wanted to return home long time ago," Mirza said, sitting in Bobde's office. However, Mirza's dream was realised when he was granted a white passport — an emergency one, after a two-year struggle. "It has been a very long time since I've seen my childhood home in Bhopal," Mirza said while reminiscing about his plans.

Mirza, who will go to Bhopal on Saturday, hopes to take his time settling in and focus on the age-old property dispute his late father Nasir Mirza was involved with. "First, I want to focus on the legal issues that I have to face, then perhaps, I don't know, I may pursue my Masters here," he added.

Interestingly, Mirza and Saif's claim over the ancestral property in Bhopal is in danger after the Lok Sabha passed a long-pending Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016, amending the Enemy Property Act (it prevents the successors of those who migrated to Pakistan and China during Partition from claiming properties left behind in India).