Supreme Court reserves verdict on Faridkot royal family dispute

New Delhi, July 29

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The three-decade-old Faridkot royal family dispute over assets worth Rs 25,000 crore is expected to be over soon as the Supreme Court has reserved its verdict on rival claims over late Maharaja of Faridkot Harinder Singh Brar’s erstwhile Faridkot estate.

Rs 25,000-cr assets under question

The royal assets under dispute included forts, palatial buildings, hundreds of acres of land, jewellery, vintage cars and a huge bank balance.

The royal assets under dispute included forts, palatial buildings, hundreds of acres of land, jewellery, vintage cars and a huge bank balance.

“Heard learned counsel for the parties… Order reserved,” a three-judge Bench of Justice UU Lalit, Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice Sidhanshu Dhulia said on Thursday after hearing detailed arguments on testamentary succession from lawyers representing the both sides.

The top court’s order sheet reflected the names of as many as 47 lawyers who entered appearances on behalf of the rival sides.

The protracted legal battle is between Maharawal Khewaji Trust managing property of the Faridkot estate and Maharaja’s daughter Amrit Kaur who had in 1992 challenged the ‘will’ said to have been executed in 1982 in favour of the trust.

Chandigarh district court had in 2013 declared the ‘will’ in favour of Maharawal Khewaji Trust as illegal and granted inheritance to the Maharaja’s daughters— Amrit Kaur and Deepinder Kaur.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court upheld the Chandigarh court’s order in June 2020 and held that descendants of the last ruler’s brother Manjit Inder Singh would get their mother Mohinder Kaur’s share in the royal property.

Acting on a petition filed by the Maharawal Khewaji Trust challenging the High Court’s order declaring Brar’s ‘will’ as ‘forged’, the top court had in August 2020 ordered status quo and had allowed the trust to continue as caretaker of the royal property. There were other petitions as well.