The fight for royal inheritance is on
Shriniwas Joshi
DO you know where Willingdon Road in Shimla is? I did not know of it till I entered the premises of Kenilworth building in Mashobra that belonged to erstwhile Maharaja of Faridkot and now is with Maharawal Khewaji Trust.
Sir Harinder Singh Brar was born on January 29, 1915. He was enthroned when he was only 3-years old and assumed full ruling powers on October 17, 1934. He died in 1989 and before that, in 1948, the state of Faridkot had acceded to India.
The Earl of Willingdon was the Viceroy-cum-Governor General of India from April 18, 1931, to April 18, 1936, and he was in Shimla, when the Maharaja invited his wife Countess of Willingdon on September 21, 1935, to inaugurate a road within his 269-bigha complex. That was the time when rajas/maharajas having buildings in Shimla used to coin an occasion to invite the Viceroy or his wife under one pretext or the other just to placate the English rulers. Otherwise what was the necessity of naming a road inside a personal complex? Anyhow, there is a plaque inside the complex declaring a grassy and shady road as the Willingdon Road.
The buildings, Kenilworth and Sherwood, both belonging to Faridkot, were destroyed in a fire in 2000 and Cosy Nook still stands there as cast off one. Amrit Kaur, the eldest daughter of the Maharaja, believed that the fire was not accidental. She smelled a mischief behind it. She commented that the fire destroyed many valuable books and rare paintings that were there.
I remember that Faridkot complex in Mashobra was known for its vintage cars. These cars – two Packard (1950 models), a Vanguard (1940), a Daimler (1950), two Jaguar (1950), Bentley (1940) and a Rolls-Royce (1950) — were purchased by the Maharaja between the 1940s and ’50s and kept at Mashobra. This battery of cars was a fascination for the people of Shimla. After the fire in 2000, Maharawal Khewaji Trust decided to shift these cars to Faridkot Museum. Although the cars were in running condition, the Trust, as a precautionary measure, decided to shift these to Faridkot in cranes. It ended the distinct identity of Faridkot House at Mashobra.
Maharawal Khewaji Trust was formed by the maharaja himself in 1982, but he kept his eldest daughter Amrit Kaur out of it because she had married a commoner against his wishes. His son had died so he nominated the second daughter, Deepinder Kaur, as the chairperson of the Trust and the youngest Maheep Inder Kaur the vice-chairperson. Amrit Kaur had said she came to know of a will, when an advocate announced about its existence after the bhog ceremony of the maharaja. She had immediately suspected a foul play in it when she found that the board comprised Maharaja’s advisers and lawyers and the names of Maharaja’s wife and mother were missing. They were alive then. The chairperson and her vice-chairperson used to get a pittance salary of Rs 1,200 and Rs 1,000. It was, probably, raised to Rs 1,700 later because once Maheep Inder Kaur had said: “If it were not for a philanthropist from Ambala supporting me, I would be reduced to utter penury with Rs 1,700 per month being provided by the Trust for my living.”
Amrit Kaur, stripped off the property, had no option but to knock the doors of the court, which she did in 1992 arguing that her father’s will had been forged and she should inherit the property in the absence of a will. The Chief Judicial Magistrate in Chandigarh had nullified the will on July 25, 2013, that paved the way for Amrit Kaur and Deepinder Kaur to inherit his Rs 20,000 crore property under the Hindu Succession Act. The third daughter Maheep Inder Kaur died in 2001 in penury at Mashobra. Amrit Kaur had once described the condition of her younger sister at Mashobra. “She was allowed two rooms in a house in Mashobra estate. She was ill-treated by the Trust administrators. Once when my daughter Gurveen H Singh went up to visit her aunt at Mashobra, she was not allowed to enter the premises.”
The Trust went in appeal against the order of the CJM and the matter is pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Now, Deepinder Kaur is also dead and Amrit Kaur, though old, yet shows indomitable characteristic in fighting the case in the court. The 27-year-long-fight for the royal inheritance of the erstwhile Maharaja of Faridkot, Sir Harinder Singh Brar, could easily be among one of the longest battles in the legal history of this region. When will the verdict be? Nobody knows but the Trust and Amrit Kaur and party are waiting for it with their fingers crossed.
Tailpiece
Mashobra is corrupted form of ‘maihns da obra’ which meant buffalos’ shed. Maihns is a buffalo in the dialect spoken here and obra means a shed.
27-yr old battle longest in region’s legal history
Maharawal Khewaji Trust went in appeal against the order of the CJM and the matter is pending in the High Court of Punjab and Haryana. Now, Maharaja of Faridkot’s second daughter Deepinder Kaur is also dead and his eldest daughter Amrit Kaur, though old, yet shows indomitable courage in fighting the court case. The 27-year-long-fight for the royal inheritance of the erstwhile Maharaja of Faridkot, Sir Harinder Singh Brar, could easily be among one of the longest battles in the legal history of this region.
