Saif Ali Khan loses his royal inheritance; thanks, Pakistan?

WEB DESK: In a dramatic legal twist, Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan has lost his claim to his family’s massive Bhopal estate worth a staggering Rs496 billion. The Indian high court just overturned a 25-year-old ruling, all because of a Pakistani connection dating back to Partition.

The saga began when Saif’s great-aunt Abida Sultan, the original heir to the Bhopal throne, migrated to Pakistan in 1950. Her younger sister Sajida (Saif’s grandmother) then inherited the royal properties, reportedly thanks to her husband’s political connections with India’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru. But now, the court has ruled that under Muslim inheritance laws, Abida’s line should have gotten everything – meaning the Indian government can now seize the luxurious Noor-Us-Sabah Palace and other assets.

Here’s where it gets juicy: While Abida’s son Shahryar Khan (Pakistan’s former foreign secretary and PCB chief) never pursued the Indian properties, there’s been a separate decades-long battle over Bhopal House in Karachi’s Clifton area. This waterfront mansion was bought by the Nawab in 1947 but got tangled in legal limbo between Shahryar and the Pakistani government.

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The final verdict? Saif’s family gets evicted from their royal inheritance, the Indian government takes over the properties, and Pakistanis on social media get another reason to debate “what could have been” with all those pre-Partition ancestral homes. As for Saif? He might walk away with just 2-3% of the original fortune. Talk about a royal downer!

Moral of the story? When it comes to cross-border inheritance, even Bollywood princes can’t escape the long shadow of Partition politics. And no, this doesn’t mean you can suddenly claim your great-grandfather’s haveli in Rajasthan – some dramas are best left to the Khans! But you can check out the Bhopal House in Clifton while you can.