Saif Ali Khan faces setback as court upholds ‘enemy property’ status on Rs 15,000 Cr estate

Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan and his family have suffered a major legal blow after the Madhya Pradesh High Court upheld the government’s decision to declare their ancestral properties—worth an estimated ₹15,000 crore—as "enemy property."

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The dispute revolves around vast estates in and around Bhopal and Raisen, once owned by the royal Pataudi family. These include prime properties such as Flag House, Kofiza, Ahmedabad Palace, and several forest lands. The Centre and the Madhya Pradesh government had declared these assets as enemy property under the Enemy Property Act, 1968, citing that Abida Sultan—eldest daughter of Nawab Hamidullah Khan—migrated to Pakistan in 1950.

Though the Bhopal District Court had in 2000 declared Saif, his mother Sharmila Tagore, and sisters Soha and Saba as legal heirs, the High Court has now directed a re-hearing, dismissing their petition and backing the central government's claim.

The Enemy Property Act permits the government to seize assets left behind by those who took Pakistani citizenship post-Partition. Saif's family argues that they are rightful heirs through Sajida Sultana, Nawab Hamidullah’s second daughter who stayed in India and married Nawab Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, Saif’s grandfather.

Despite the 2019 recognition of Sajida as a legal heir, the High Court upheld the enemy property designation, leaving Saif’s family’s claim hanging in legal uncertainty.