 "An inheritance of lawsuits - India's top 5 battles royale")
VADODRA
Gaekwad Vs Gaekwad
The Rs. 20,000 Cr dispute which began in 1991 between Sangramsinh Gaekwad and his brother, Ranjitsinh Gaekwad and involved 23 Gaekwad family members, was finally resolved after 23 years yesterday. Ranjitsinh Gaekwad’s son, Samarjitsinh, retained the family’s landmark property Lakshmi Vilas Palace, and 600 acres around it; while his uncle Sangramsinh got Indumati Palace, a majority of the family’s residential properties in Mumbai and Vadodara and real estate owned under Alaukik Trading Company, including bungalows and Nazarbaug Palace.
FARIDKOT
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur Vs Meharwal Khewaji Trust
In July this year Rajkumari Amrit Kaur and her sister, daughters of the former Maharaja of Faridkot Harinder Singh Brar won claims to their father's staggering Rs 20,000-crore property. A Chandigarh court gave the verdict in favour of the Kaur sisters after Amrit challenged the maharaja’s will which entrusted the Meharwal Khewaji Trust as caretaker of the Faridkot royal family’s estates. These included a palace, Faridkot House in New Delhi, properties across India, bank deposits and jewelry. The court said the will was forged, while granting the Kaurs their share of the property. But it doesn’t end here - There are now rival claims on the properties from Raja Harinder Singh's younger brother Majitinder Singh's family.
JAIPUR
More From This Section
Devraj Singh and Lalitya Kumari Vs. Prithviraj Singh & Jai Singh
The death of Rajmata Gayatri Devi – the princess of Jaipur pitted her grand children against their step uncles Prithviraj Singh & Jai Singh in a grand litigation that involves claims to her stakes in at least 17 royal disputed properties including Rambagh Palace, Jai Mahal, Rajamata’s residence Lilypool, parts of the City Palace in Jaipur, Jaipur House in Delhi and Mount Abu and Viman Bhawan at Swai Madhopur. This is just the latest in a long list of property disputes that have dogged the Jaipur royals in the past involving Bhawani Singh, son of the Maharaja's first wife Marudhar Kanwar, the Rajmata’s only son Jagat and his estranged wife Prianandana as well as Prithviraj Singh & Jai Singh. The Rajmata’s share of property was estimated at around Rs. 1000 Cr in 2010 according to media reports.
PATAUDI
Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi Vs sisters Saleha and Sabiha
The high profile Pataudi family is locked in a series of long standing feuds over palaces and mansions spread across 2,000 acres around Bhopal. While Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, the late Nawab and ex-Indian cricket captain, also father of actor Saif Ali Khan has been fighting a lingering battle with his sisters Saleha and Sabiha (now being fought by wife Sharmila Tagore), the three siblings have been united in a battle against a Mumbai based businessman who claimed stakes to one of their other properties. There is also a longer trail of legal disputes involving Auqaf-eShahi properties and religious endowments worth thousands of crores which are being looked into by Saba Ali Khan, Pataudi’s elder daughter.
GWALIOR
Scindia Vs Scindia
The only surviving Maratha dynasty has been feuding for decades. Whether it was the infamous, no holds barred political and domestic battle between Madhavrao Scindia and his mother Vijaya Raje that led her to disinherit him, or the subsequent property litigations that have pitted Power Minister Jyotiraditya Schidia against his three aunts including former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia who were named as trustees of the Rajmata’s properties. The Scindia family is also in dispute over certain properties with the family of Sardar Sambhajirao Angre, a confidante and also one of the big beneficiaries of Rajmata Vijaya Raje’s will. The spoils are reported to be worth a whopping Rs 20,000 Cr