Fortune smiles on Raja of Mehmoodabad By TIMES OF INDIA
https://tehalkatodayindia.blogspot.com/2010/08/fortune-smiles-on-raja-of-mehmoodabad.html
LUCKNOW/DELHI: Fortune could once again smile on Mohammed Amir Mohammed Khan (63), the erstwhile Raja of Mehmoodabad, whose properties worth at least Rs 3,000 crore in Sitapur and Lucknow were acquired by the UP government on Wednesday after the Centre's decision not to table an ordinance on enemy property. Khan's assets are spread across Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
The passage of the July 2 ordinance during the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament would have placed the property under the Central government's control, and it's not getting tabled must come as a relief to the Oxbridge alumnus Raja. The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Ordinance 2010, passed on July 2, will now automatically stand expired if not tabled in the ongoing Parliament session. The monsoon session ends on August 18. If it is not tabled in this period, he will regain control over all the assets.
Khan's legal battle started from the court of civil judge at Lucknow shortly after the Abolition of Zamindari Act came into effect in 1965. It ended in 2005 after the Supreme Court's order estblished his ownership.
The state government, which had returned his property in Sitapur, Lakhimpur and Lucknow after the Supreme Court judgment, wasted no time in retaking possession of the bungalows of the district magistrate, superintendent of police and chief medical officer in Sitapur.
The Raja of Mehmoodabad has an illustrious and famously rich ancestry, which saw action during the 1857 uprising, for which a large part of his estate was confiscated by the British. He was elected to the state assembly in 1985 and 1989 on a Congress ticket before he gave up active politics.
His father, Raja Amir Ali Khan, was one of the founders of the Muslim League and served as its honorary treasurer for several years. The Raja's property in Nainital includes a sprawling 8.72 acre plot of land which houses a starred hotel along with 112 houses.
In Lucknow, he owns the palatial 10,000 square feet Butler Palace, Mehmoodabad Mansion and over a dozen spacious showrooms and shops in the upscale Hazratganj and Janpath market areas. Lal Kothi in Maulviganj, Malik Zamani Imambara in Golaganj and Siddiqui Building in Astabal Charbagh are his other assets in Lucknow. Some of the shopkeepers in Hazratganj had challenged the ownership of the Raja's property, albeit unsuccessfully.
The Raja, who married a Hindu woman — she comes from a well-known family of civil servants — has a son who studies in Oxford.
His past redolent of Shia nobility makes him an active member of Lucknow's elite and he is known upholding the time-honoured 'Lakhnavi' values 'tehzeeb' and tameez'.
In Sitapur, he owns almost 3,200 acres of land which now has residential colonies, government bungalows of senior officials like district magistrate and superintendent of police.
The passage of the July 2 ordinance during the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament would have placed the property under the Central government's control, and it's not getting tabled must come as a relief to the Oxbridge alumnus Raja. The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Ordinance 2010, passed on July 2, will now automatically stand expired if not tabled in the ongoing Parliament session. The monsoon session ends on August 18. If it is not tabled in this period, he will regain control over all the assets.
Khan's legal battle started from the court of civil judge at Lucknow shortly after the Abolition of Zamindari Act came into effect in 1965. It ended in 2005 after the Supreme Court's order estblished his ownership.
The state government, which had returned his property in Sitapur, Lakhimpur and Lucknow after the Supreme Court judgment, wasted no time in retaking possession of the bungalows of the district magistrate, superintendent of police and chief medical officer in Sitapur.
The Raja of Mehmoodabad has an illustrious and famously rich ancestry, which saw action during the 1857 uprising, for which a large part of his estate was confiscated by the British. He was elected to the state assembly in 1985 and 1989 on a Congress ticket before he gave up active politics.
His father, Raja Amir Ali Khan, was one of the founders of the Muslim League and served as its honorary treasurer for several years. The Raja's property in Nainital includes a sprawling 8.72 acre plot of land which houses a starred hotel along with 112 houses.
In Lucknow, he owns the palatial 10,000 square feet Butler Palace, Mehmoodabad Mansion and over a dozen spacious showrooms and shops in the upscale Hazratganj and Janpath market areas. Lal Kothi in Maulviganj, Malik Zamani Imambara in Golaganj and Siddiqui Building in Astabal Charbagh are his other assets in Lucknow. Some of the shopkeepers in Hazratganj had challenged the ownership of the Raja's property, albeit unsuccessfully.
The Raja, who married a Hindu woman — she comes from a well-known family of civil servants — has a son who studies in Oxford.
His past redolent of Shia nobility makes him an active member of Lucknow's elite and he is known upholding the time-honoured 'Lakhnavi' values 'tehzeeb' and tameez'.
In Sitapur, he owns almost 3,200 acres of land which now has residential colonies, government bungalows of senior officials like district magistrate and superintendent of police.
