Hyderabad Nizam descendants await closure on 35 million pounds inheritance

This pertains to one of the long-pending court cases in the United Kingdom. About 70 years ago, the seventh, and last, Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan had transferred £1,007,940 pounds sterling and nine shillings to the National Westminister Bank in London. The transfer was done in the name of H.I. Rahimtoola, the then High Commissioner to Pakistan. Post which, the 1948 merger of Hyderabad

State and the India Union had taken place, thereby removing the independent regime of the Nizam. The years gone by have been witness to the fight for the legal claim on the amount.

On October 2, 2019, the final hearing was given by Justice Marcus Smith of the High Court of England and Wales. He has ruled that the £1 million (now calculated at £35 million or about ₹ 306 crores) rightfully belongs to the Nizam’s family and India. A claim made by Pakistan, through its High Commissioner in London, has been overruled.

Now a battle of another kind seems to be cropping up regarding the inheritance of the amount. The legal heirs of the late Nizam are Prince Mukarram Jah Bahadur, the titular eighth Nizam, and his younger brother Muffakham Jah. However, keeping the legality aside there are 120 descendants of the late ruler who are also gearing up to claim their inheritance in this amount. This stems from the total number of children of the late Nizam – 16 sons and 18 daughters – and their offspring. They are represented by one of the late Nizam’s grandsons, Najaf Ali Khan, the son of Prince Hasham Jah Bahadur. According to Mr. Khan, if the two princes deny the share to the other heirs, then the latter will approach the court, either in India or in the United Kingdom.