NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the plea filed by petitioner Sultana Begum, who claimed 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.
Terming the appeal as "misconceived, meritless," a bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar refused to entertain the petition filed against the Delhi High Court order.
"The writ petition filed initially was misconceived and meritless. It cannot be entertained," the CJI said.
The bench did not allow the counsel for petitioner Sultana Begum to withdraw the plea.
"The petitioner is a family member of the first freedom fighter of the country," the counsel said.
The CJI said if the arguments are considered then "why only Red Fort then why not forts at Agra, Fatehpuri Sikri etc"
A division bench of the Delhi High Court, on December 13, last year, had dismissed the appeal by Begum against the December 2021 decision of a HC single judge, noting the challenge was filed after a delay of over two-and-a-half years, which could not be condoned.
Begum said she could not file the appeal owing to her bad health and passing away of her daughter.
"We find the said explanation inadequate, considering that the delay is of more than two-and-a-half years. The petition was also dismissed (by the single judge) for being inordinately delayed by several decades.
The application for condonation of delay is dismissed. Consequently, the appeal is also dismissed. It is barred by limitation," the high court had said.
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 an illegal occupant of such property”.
Begum further claimed in her petition 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 petition sought a direction to the Centre to hand over the Red Fort to the petitioner or give adequate compensation.
(With inputs from PTI)