BHOPAL: Third-generation of a business family in central Madhya Pradesh’s Sehore district is exploring legal options for repayment of Rs 35,000, which it claims was taken by the British government as ‘war loan’ from its grandfather in 1917.
“None of us knew about that loan. It was after my father’s death that we stumbled upon a very old certificate, which mentioned about my grandfather Seth Jumma Lal Ruthia, having lent Rs 35,000 in 1917 to the British rulers for running the government and funding the war. We’re now exploring legal options to get the old loan repaid,” Sehore-based businessman Vivek Ruthia told journalists on Thursday.
The sepia-tinted historical certificate dated June 4, 1917 in the custody of the Ruthia family, issued by then Bhopal Agency and signed by WS Davis as its political agent, mentions Seth Jumma Lal Ruthia, having subscribed Rs 35,000 to the Indian War Loan and thereby showed his loyalty to the Government and the Empire.
Importantly, the British Government in March 2015 redeemed 1.9 billion pounds in “War Loan” bonds. It represented the final payoff of debts incurred by the United Kingdom to finance World War I (and later World War II), held by investors worldwide.
“We’ve come to know from media reports that a heavy sum of 1.9 billion pounds was transferred from the British Government’s treasury to redeem the loan taken by the British rulers to fund the war. It has also been learnt that the British Government has promised to redeem the remaining corpus, which was collected as loan during the war period. We demand that the Indian government tell the people of the country how much sum has the British Government transferred to India,” Ruthia said, while dropping enough hints about exploring legal options towards getting the outstanding loan repaid.
According to sources close to the family (which has in its custody all supporting documents) is exploring to send legal notice to the British government.
Importantly, the Ruthia family was counted among the wealthiest families of Sehore and Bhopal State in the pre-independence era. Even today, a significant part of Sehore city is based on the land owned by the same family.
The same family also reportedly owns several properties in Indore, Sehore and Bhopal. Many of those properties could be under the illegal possession of others.