New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday (May 5) dismissed a plea of a woman claiming to be the widow of great-grandson of Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar-II and legal heir and seeking possession of the Red Fort in the national capital.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar was hearing the plea of the woman challenging an order of the Delhi High Court rejecting her plea.
What did the petitioner submit?
The counsel representing the petitioner woman argued that the petitioner woman is the family member of the first freedom fighter of the country.
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The bench told the counsel that if the arguments of the petitioner are considered then “why only Red Fort then why not forts at Agra, Fatehpuri Sikri etc”.
Apex court did not allow petitioner’s counsel to withdraw plea
The bench did not allow petitioner’s counsel to withdraw the plea and dismissed it, terming it as “misconceived” and “meritless”.
“The writ petition filed initially was misconceived and meritless. It cannot be entertained,” CJI Khanna said.
Delhi High Court earlier dismissed petitioner’s plea for possession of Red Fort
A division bench of the High Court had dismissed the appeal filed by Sultana Begum against a single bench order on December 13, last year, noting the challenge to the single judge order was filed after a delay of over two-and-a-half years, which could not be condoned. Begum submitted before the division bench of the High Court that she could not file the appeal against the single bench order owing to her bad health and passing away of her daughter.
“We find the said explanation inadequate, considering that the delay is of more than two-and-a-half years. The petition was also dismissed (by the single judge) for being inordinately delayed by several decades. The application for condonation of delay is dismissed. Consequently, the appeal is also dismissed. It is barred by limitation,” the division bench of the high court had said.
The single bench of the High Court dismissed Begum’s plea on December 20, 2021, saying there was no justification for the inordinate delay in approaching the court after over 150 years.
What did the petitioner claim?
Begum claimed that she was the owner of the Red Fort in Delhi as she inherited it from her ancestor Bahadur Shah Zafar-II and sought a direction to the Centre to hand over the Red Fort to her or give her adequate compensation, claiming the government of India was an illegal occupant of the property.
