Revision as of 14:13, 3 August 2013

The Maharaja of Faridkot

Former maharaja's daughters get Rs 20,000 crore relief from court

IANS | Jul 28, 2013

The Times of India

A court here has declared a 32-year-old will "forged" and illegal" and granted inheritance of properties and assets worth a whopping Rs 20,000 crore ($4.4 billion) to the two daughters of the erstwhile Maharaja of Faridkot, Harinder Singh Brar.

CHANDIGARH: It is a royal bonanza for two daughters of a former maharaja, one they had to wait for over two decades.

The Maharaja’s properties and assets

A court here has declared a 32-year-old will "forged" and illegal" and granted inheritance of properties and assets worth a whopping Rs 20,000 crore ($4.4 billion) to the two daughters of the erstwhile Maharaja of Faridkot, Harinder Singh Brar.

The properties and assets include the palatial Faridkot House on New Delhi's Copernicus Marg, a royal palace complex and a fort in Faridkot, a fort in Mani Majra area of Chandigarh, vintage cars (including a Rolls Royce), an aerodrome in Faridkot spread over 200 acres, properties in Hyderabad and Delhi, gold and jewellery worth nearly Rs.1,000 crore with Standard Chartered Bank in Mumbai and more.

Real estate experts and accountants put the total worth of the properties and assets at over Rs.20,000 crore. The Mani Majra fort, which is over 350 years old, is not in a very good condition. The erstwhile ruler was allowed to keep these properties after the country's independence in August 1947.

The 1980s: the last years of Harinder Singh Brar

In her suit, Amrit Kaur, who lives in Sector 10 here, alleged that the will was forged by officials and servants of the ex-ruler at a time when he was in depression. The will, which gave all his properties and assets to the Meharwal Khewaji Trust, was registered in 1982. The trust had some of his servants on board, while his two daughters were appointed chairperson and vice chairperson for a mere Rs.1200 and Rs. 1000 per month.

Following the death of the erstwhile ruler in 1989, the trustees took control of all the properties and assets.

Amrit Kaur challenged the will, saying that the trust members had forced her father to sign it at a time when he was in depression. She had claimed that he was not in a "fit state of mind" when the will was drawn up. She pointed out that the will had completely excluded his wife, Narinder Kaur, and mother, Mohinder Kaur, who were alive in 1981-82.

1992: legal battle begins

The legal battle for the assets started in 1992 after the ex-maharaja's daughter Amrit Kaur filed a case in a court here. Following a 21-year-old legal battle, the court of the chief judicial magistrate Rajnish Kumar, ordered Thursday that the 1981 will, purportedly drawn up by the maharaja, was "forged and fabricated".

The family, as in 2013

With the court judgment, Amrit Kaur and her Kolkata-based sister Deepinder Kaur will inherit the properties and assets of the erstwhile ruler. Their third sister, Maheepinder Kaur, who was not married, died under mysterious circumstances in Shimla in 2001.

Brar had three daughters and a son, Harmohinder Singh, who died in a road accident in 1981. Following this, Brar went into depression.

Faridkot princess spent last years in penury

Ravinder Makhaik TNN

The Times of India 2013/08/03

Shimla: Maheepinder Kaur, the youngest daughter of Sir Harinder Singh Brar, the late Maharaja of Faridkot, spent the last 12 years of her life in utter penury, waiting for the court to decide on the ownership of royal moveable and immoveable properties worth thousands of crores of rupees.

After a legal battle of over two decades, two daughters of H S Brar won the inheritance of his Rs 20,000-crore properties, with a Chandigarh court on July 25 declaring his 31-year-old will forged and illegal. According to the will, the properties were entrusted with the Maharawal Khewaji Trust.

The Maharaja’s properties included 300 acres of land, an aerodrome in Faridkot, three planes, two forts, Raj Mahal complex in Faridkot, Faridkot House on New Delhi’s Copernicus Marg, Mani Majra fort in Chandigarh, gold, diamonds and around two dozen buildings across the country and a museum.

But the verdict came a bit too late.. The property dispute had left the youngest daughter dependent upon the trust, which was simply not enough. Living in utter isolation, the princess spent her last years in a small portion of Kennilworth house, one of five majestic cottages spread over a sprawling 260 bigha estate at Mashobra near Shimla.

In an interview shortly before her death in 2001, Maheepinder revealed that she slept on the floor and was always apprehensive of conspiracy against her. Speaking about her utter neglect by the trust, she said, “If it were not for a philanthropist from Ambala supporting me, I would be reduced to utter penury with the Rs 1,700 per month being provided by the trust for my living.”

Though the garages on the estate housed vintage cars — a Rolls Royce, a Bentley, a Daimler, two Jaguars and two Packard’s — Maheepinder drove a rundown Maruti van. She recalled that the two jaguars had been bought for her parents’ wedding. The princess, who died a spinster, was fond of reading. But she was not allowed to step into the big library in Kennilworth.