Supreme Court rejects plea of Bahadur Shah Zafar 'heir' seeking possession of Red Fort

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a plea filed by a woman, who claimed herself to be the legal 'heir' of the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, and sought a direction for possession of the historic 17th century monument, Red Fort.

"The plea is misconceived, meritless. Sorry. Why only Red Fort? Why not Fatehpur Sikhri? Why leave them also?Writ is completely misconceived. Dismissed," a bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar said.

The woman, Sultana Begum, claimed to be the widow of late Mirza Mohammed Bedar Bakht, the great-grandson of Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar.

She approached the court, after the Delhi High Court earlier had rejected her plea in December, 2024.

The petitioner, Begum said she was “the rightful owner of Red Fort as she inherited this property from her ancestor Bahadur Shah Zafar II and the government of India is illegal occupant of such property”.

Begum further claimed that the family was deprived of the property by the British after the First War of Independence in 1857, following which the emperor was exiled from the country and possession of the Red Fort was forcefully taken away from the Mughals.

The plea sought a direction to the Centre to hand over the Red Fort to Begum or give adequate compensation, besides the compensation from 1857 to till date for alleged illegal possession by the government.