HYDERABAD: A week after filing a petition in the Delhi high court questioning legality of succession certificate, Najaf Ali Khan, grandson of Nizam VII Mir Osman Ali Khan, has lodged a complaint with Hyderabad police against three kin for alleged breach of trust and cheating in the distribution of the Rs 325 crore Nizam Fund. The money was decided in favour of India and the Nizam’s legal heirs by a UK court last year.
He also sought police protection alleging that he and his family have been receiving threats to their lives. This is perhaps the first time ever that an heir of the former ruler of Hyderabad State sought security.
Najaf Ali Khan on Tuesday called on Hyderabad police commissioner Anjani Kumar and submitted a complaint seeking registration of a case against Mukarram Jah and Muffakham Jah, grandsons; Azmath Jah, great grandson; and Esra Jah, former wife of Mukarram Jah and holder of his general power of attorney (GPA).
Najaf Ali Khan, who also heads the Nizam’s Family Welfare Association, has sought registration of an FIR against the other legal heirs of the last ruler of the princely Hyderabad state.
Later, in a statement, Najaf Ali said the police commissioner promised to forward the complaint to a legal team as the charges levelled in the complaint were of serious nature.
The complaint pertains to sharing of the Hyderabad Fund, which was decided in favour of India and the Nizam’s legal heirs after a legal battle for nearly 70 years. During the Police Action in 1948, the Nizam’s then finance minister had transferred one million pound to the account of high commissioner of Pakistan in the UK apparently to fight Hyderabad’s case in the UN. India, Pakistan and the Nizam’s family claimed the money, forcing the British Parliament to freeze the account. In November 2019, the case was decided against Pakistan. Meanwhile, the amount grew to 35 million pound (Rs 325 crore) in NatWest Bank.
Najaf Ali Khan alleged the Hyderabad Fund was shared mostly by the two grandsons, leaving a pittance to other legal heirs. In his complaint, he alleged that an invalid certificate of succession to the ‘gaddi’ (throne) was submitted to the court in the UK. He also alleged that the case involved cheating, fraud, forgery, misrepresentation, giving false and fabricated evidence resulting in misappropriation of fund belonging to the Nizam VII.
“We submitted to the police commissioner a complaint which contained details on usage of the invalid Certificate of Succession in the UK High Court in the Nizam Fund’s case issued by the Union government to Mukarram Jah on February 27, 1967 as sole successor to the Nizam VII,” he said, adding that this resulted in loss to the rest of the legal heirs.
He reiterated that after the 26th amendment (abolition of privy purse) to the Constitution in 1971 by insertion of Article 363A, the Certificate of Succession had become invalid, null and void and ultra-vires to the Constitution. “Thus, Mukarram Jah is no more the ruler of Hyderabad in succession to his grandfather, HEH Nawab Sir Mir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur, and he is like any ordinary citizen. Therefore, the Muslim personal law is applicable for the matter of inheritance,” he said in his complaint.