Explained: Why Saif Ali Khan Could Lose Rs 15,000 Crore Royal Legacy

Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan - the grandson of Iftikhar Ali Khan, the last ruler of the former princely state of Pataudi in Haryana - is on the brink of losing a chunk of his royal legacy after the Madhya Pradesh High Court set aside a trial court order recognising him, and his immediate family, as the sole owners of properties worth Rs 15,000 crore in and around Bhopal.

These properties include the Noor-Us-Sabah Palace (now a luxury hotel) and Flagstaff House in the city, as well as palaces, royal bungalows, and other real estate scattered around the state.

The actor must now wage a legal battle to hold on to those properties and his legacy; the High Court directed the trial court to re-examine the case and deliver a fresh ruling within a year.

But that isn't the only challenge facing the actor - having quite the tumultuous 2025 after being stabbed in January during a home invasion - for he must also contest the government's 'enemy' property tag.

Saif Ali Khan, Nawab of Pataudi (and Bhopal?)

Technically, yes.

Khan, 54, is the great-grandson of Hamidullah Khan, the last Nawab of Bhopal.

Hamidullah Khan's second daughter, Sajida Sultan, is the actor's grandmother.

Hamidullah Khan, Nawab of Bhopal. Photo: Carl Vandyk - Carl Vandyk, Public Domain

The Nawab's first daughter and oldest child, Abida Sultan Begum migrated to Pakistan after the Partition - remember this point, we'll return to it shortly - while Sajida Sultan chose to stay in India, succeeded her father, and inherited the late Nawab's privately-held properties.

That inheritance was acknowledged by the government in 1962; a Home Ministry notification said the government had no objection to the properties being transferred to her name.

Again, remember this point.

Sajida Sultan then married Iftikhar Ali Khan, the Nawab of Pataudi, and these properties were then passed down to her son, Mansoor Ali Khan, and then grandson, Saif Ali Khan.

So far, so good.

Now for the plot twist.

The High Court Setback

In 2000 a Madhya Pradesh trial court ruled that Saif and his family - his mother Sharmila Tagore and sisters Soha and Saba Ali Khan - were the rightful heirs to the Bhopal properties.

Saif Ali Khan, Nawab of Pataudi, and his mother, Sharmila Tagore (File).

That decision, however, was challenged by other descendants of Hamidullah Khan, who argued the last Bhopal Nawab's wealth should be divided according to Muslim Personal Law.

Last week the High Court agreed and re-opened the question of succession.

And so, if the trial court now reverses its original ruling, Saif Ali Khan will lose a portion, possibly quite a large one too, of his family's inheritance from Hamidullah Khan and Sajida Sultan.

The 'Enemy Property' Act

Meanwhile, a second (and possibly stiffer) challenge lurks in the shadows.

Now, remember the points from earlier?

In 2014 the government issued a notice to Saif Ali Khan that said the Enemy Property Act of 1968 would be applied to the Rs 15,000 crore in properties inherited from the former Bhopal ruler.

The notice argued that since Hamidullah Khan's oldest daughter, his natural heir, had surrendered Indian citizenship by migrating to Pakistan, the properties were now considered as belonging to the 'enemy' and, therefore, subject to seizure by the Indian government.

The Bhopal properties were inherited by Saif Ali Khan via Hamidullah Khan's second daughter, Sajida Sultan, who became the de facto heir after her sister's migration.

Sajida Sultan, Saif Ali Khan's grandmother. Photo: Unidentified photographer/Wikimedia Commons

In 1962 the government - then led by the late Jawaharlal Nehru - accepted the claim, and said she was "the sole successor to all private properties, movable and immovable, held by Nawan Hamidullah... no objection to such properties being transferred to Sajida Sultan Begum".

In any case, Saif Ali Khan contested this claim in court and won a temporary stay.

But in December 2024 the High Court dismissed his petition and lifted that stay, and gave the actor and his family 30 days to file an appeal.

The dismissal was based on the government repealing the 1968 law on 'enemy' property "from a retrospective date" and set up an appellate authority - the Custodian of Enemy Property in Mumbai - to re-examine all such issues.

And that authority overruled the 1962 notice recognising Sajida Sultan as the heir.

It is unclear if Saif Ali Khan filed that appeal on time, particularly since the actor was stabbed on January 16, was hospitalised for nearly a week, and spent weeks after recovering from surgery.

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