Supreme Court Rejects Sultana Begum's Claim for Red Fort Ownership

The Supreme Court dismissed Sultana Begum's plea, claiming inheritance of the Red Fort through Mughal descent. The court deemed her case baseless, upholding previous dismissals by lower courts. Begum asserted rights over the fort due to ancestral ties and sought compensation for what she termed illegal occupation.

The Supreme Court on Monday turned down a petition filed by Sultana Begum, who claims to be the widow of Mirza Mohammed Bedar Bakht, contesting her right to the Red Fort, rooted in her direct lineage from the last Mughal ruler Bahadur Shah Zafar. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar dismissed the claim, criticizing its merit by rhetorically questioning why the plea did not extend to other historic sites.

Begum's challenge escalated to the apex court after her appeal was denied by a division bench in the Delhi High Court in December 2024, following an initial dismissal by a single judge in 2021. The argument was predicated on her assertion as an inheritor of Mughal heritage, regarding the government as an unlawful occupant.

Begum argued that the British wrongly dispossessed her family of the Red Fort post-1857, following the exile of Bahadur Shah Zafar. She insisted on either gaining possession of the fort or receiving compensation for over a century's governmental control. Additionally, Begum received political pensions, acknowledging her heritage, yet her ownership claims over the fort were ultimately invalidated by the judiciary. (ANI)

(With inputs from agencies.)