Faridkot: The Maharaja and his family
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The Maharaja of Faridkot
Former maharaja's daughters get Rs 20,000 crore relief from court
IANS | Jul 28, 2013
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.
Daughters win estate, 2022
AmitAnand Choudhary, Sep 8, 2022: The Times of India
New Delhi : Bringing to an end the 30-year long legal battle among family members of erstwhile Faridkot Maharaja Harinder Singh Brar over who should inherit properties worth around Rs 20,000 crore, the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld Punjab & Haryana high court’s order that ruled in favour of his daughters Amrit Kaur and Deepinder Kaur and had declared that the trust, which was managing the affairs of the estate, was created on the basis of a forged will.
A bench of Chief Justice U U Lalit and Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Sudhanshu Dhulia said all three courts below including Punjab and Haryana HC extensively examined the evidence and they all were unanimous in their findings. It said there was no reason to upset the concurrent view taken by the courts.
The bone of contention was the third will, which was allegedly executed by Harinder Singh in 1982, as per which the entire property would be inherited by a Trust known as ‘Maharwal Khewaji Trust’. He was survived by three daughtersnamely Amrit Kaur, Deepinder Kaur and Mahipinder Kaur. He died in 1989 and family members came to know about his alleged third will which superseded earlier wills.
After his death, the board of trustees took over the possession, control and management of the entire estate of Raja Harinder Singh Brar with the assent of the executors. The properties located in various revenue estates were mutated in the name of the Trust and the urban properties were also trans-ferred in the name of the Trust.
The eldest daughter Amrit Kaur, who was not made part of the Trust, filed a suit for declaration that she is owner of 1/3rd share of the property and also challenged the veracity of her father’s third will. The second suit was filed by the younger brother of Harinder Singh, seeking inheritance of the entire estate on the basis of the Rule of Primogeniture.
The youngest daughter, Mahipinder Kaur, expired in 2001 when the matter was still pending before the trial court. She was unmarried and died without leaving any heir.
Details
From: Sunil Baghel, Sep 23, 2022: The Times of India
From: Sunil Baghel, Sep 23, 2022: The Times of India
From: Sunil Baghel, Sep 23, 2022: The Times of India
A maharaja rich beyond imagination slips into depression after his beloved son meets with an accident and dies a few months later. After the maharaja’s death, most of his family – including his wife, mother and one of his daughters – do not get the palaces, gold and vast lands he left behind. They are instead handed out a sum every month from a trust that is controlled by another daughter, who is accused of scheming and cheating the family of their dues. This gives rise to a legal battle which continues for decades.
Earlier, this month, the legal fight finally came to an end when the Supreme Court ruled that the properties of Maharaja Harinder Singh Brar, the last ruler of erstwhile Faridkot state in Punjab need to be distributed between both his daughters.
A relatively small part of the wealth will also be passed on to the maharaja’s younger brother Manjitinder Singh’s heirs based on a will of their mother, Rajmata Mohinder Kaur. She had willed her entire share in Brar’s properties to Manjitinder’s children.
So, what is at stake? Properties worth Rs 20,000 crore. The estate includes a 350-year-old fort, palaces and forest lands in Faridkot, a mansion surrounded by acres of land in the heart of New Delhi and similar properties spread across states. Add four aircraft, airfields and a battery of expensive cars, heirloom jewellery to the mix.
It started off as a three-way legal fight with Manjitinder, Brar’s eldest daughter Amrit Kaur and youngest daughter Maheepinder filing cases, and eventually turned into a two-way fight after Maheepinder’s death.
The main bone of contention was a will allegedly made by Brar on June 1, 1982. The other issues included an agreement he signed merging with the Union of India after Independence, The Raja of Fardikot’s Estate Act, 1948 and the unwritten rule of primogeniture by which the eldest male descendant of the ruler would inherit the state.
The raja’s will and court’s remarks against rajkumari
The case first came to court in 1992 when Manjitinder filed a case. Manjitinder in his petition argued that he should be made the heir as the deceased ruler had no male heir.
Daughter Amrit, who filed a petition soon after, stated that at the time of the alleged will, her father was not in the right frame of mind due to his son’s death and was deeply influenced by people around him. Terming the will as nothing more than an act of fraud, she said that rule of primogeniture based on The Raja of Faridkot’s Estate Act, 1948, gave rights to the daughter to succeed.
When the case eventually reached the Punjab and Haryana high court, it upheld the lower court orders rejecting the will dated June 1, 1982. It also made strong remarks against the role played by Brar’s second daughter Deepinder Kaur who was controlling all the assets through the trust . The will that was rejected gave rights over Brar’s estate to this trust. It provided a paltry Rs 1,000 maintenance and Rs 50,000 for Maheepinder’s marriage. She was given a choice to live in one of Brar’s flats (not palaces) outside Faridkot and for her son to succeed the vice-chairpersonship of the trust only if she married into an erstwhile royal family.
It granted only Rs 3,000 per month maintenance to Brar’s wife Narinder Kaur and left the rajmata and daughter Amrit completely out of the estate.
Why the will was discarded
The two copies of the will had at least 40 differences, including more than 10 spelling errors. Both the copies were allegedly drafted by Brar. Amrit Kaur argued that her father was well versed in English having studied in Aitchison College, Lahore, and the chances of having spelling errors were minimal. In order to substantiate her argument, she produced 28 letters written between 1976 and 1979 (before the will came into being), and 11 letters between 1985 and 1989 (after the will). There was not a single error in any of these letters and proved that he would have gone through documents thoroughly.
It was also argued that during Brar’s tenure between 1934 and 1948, he had promulgated various laws before he joined the Indian Union and had a good legal understanding. Also, this was not the first will he had made. There were two other wills, one in 1950 and another in 1952. The 1952 will specifically mentioned that he did not want to give anything to Amrit after she had married a non-royal against his wishes. However, their relationship improved over the years and she was made a part of various trusts that Brar set up.
Judgements, judicial
The will was forged: HC, 2020
Ajay Sura, Royal will in ₹20kcr case forged, says HC, June 2, 2020: The Times of India
While deciding the nearly three-decadeold Rs 20,000-crore property dispute of the erstwhile Faridkot royal family, the Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday ruled that the will dated June 1, 1982 in favour of Maharawal Khewaji Trust was found to be “forged, fabricated and shrouded with suspicious circumstances”.
“Therefore, the same has been rightly discarded by the courts below and the Maharawal Khewaji Trust created thereunder is also held to be unfounded,” the HC ruled. The verdict running into 547 pages made it clear that the parties would succeed to the estate of late Maharaja Harinder Singh Brar of Faridkot as per The Hindu Succession Act, 1956. The lawful shares of the parties would be quantified and thereafter all will succeed in accordance with law. With this, the property would go to the Maharaja’s mother, the late Maharani Mohinder Kaur, and his two daughters Amrit Kaur and Deepinder Kaur. The maharaja’s third daughter, Mahipinder, who was not married, died in 2001. His son Harmohinder Singh died in 1981 and Deepinder Kaur died in 2018.
