After getting a setback from SC, Sultana Begum, who claimed to be the widow of the great-grandson of Mughal emperor bahadur shah zafar II, has got a big setback from the supreme Court. The supreme court on monday (May 5) rejected Sultana Begum's petition, in which she had demanded rights over the red Fort as a legal heir.
Expressing displeasure over this decision of the court, Sultana Begum told PTI, "We had filed a petition in the supreme court, which was rejected without hearing. We always sought help from the government, but we were always rejected. I do not understand why so much injustice is being done to us."
The petition is based on a wrong assumption - SC
The bench of Chief Justice sanjeev Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar refused to hear the petition, calling it "based on a wrong assumption" and "baseless". The court said that the petition was legally impractical from the very beginning and cannot be considered worth consideration. When Sultana Begum's lawyer sought permission to withdraw it, the bench did not allow it either. The lawyer argued that the petitioner belongs to the family of the country's first freedom fighter bahadur shah zafar, to which the Chief Justice said, "If your arguments are accepted, then why only the red Fort, why not the forts of agra and Fatehpur Sikri?"
delhi HC also rejected the appeal
Earlier, the delhi high court also dismissed his appeal on 13 december 2023, saying that the petition was filed with a delay of two and a half years, for which no concrete reason was given. Sultana Begum had cited her poor health condition and the death of her daughter as the reason for this delay, but the court considered it to be incomplete information.
In fact, on 20 december 2021, a single judge of the high court also rejected her original petition, in which she had demanded the return of possession of the red Fort allegedly seized by the british East india Company. The court legally rejected it in view of the delay of more than 150 years.
The petition said that after the 1857 revolution, the british deprived Bahadur Shah Zafar's family of property and the emperor was exiled from the country. Begum claims that the red Fort is the heritage of her ancestors, which is now illegally occupied by the government of India.
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