NEW DELHI: Raja Mahmudabad Amir Mohammad Khan died late on Tuesday night. The 80-year-old scion of a fabled royal family of Oudh had been ill for some time, family sources said.

Many personalities including Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav expressed grief over his demise. He was laid to rest on Wednesday at 4pm in Karbala Mahmudabad.

Raja Mahmudabad was in the headlines for challenging in the Supreme Court the Enemy Property Ordinance 2016, a case in which a couple of leading politicians from the BJP and Congress joined hands take away his enormous wealth.

The Modi government revived a controversial ordinance in 2016 to grab land from the heirs of owners who migrated to Pakistan, the main victim being the Raja of Mahmu­dabad, whose father Amir Ahmed Khan, also known as Raja Mahmudabad, went away to Karachi as a close aide of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah though his son never went with him.

The Supreme Court had restored the massive estates to the now demised Raja Mahmudabad, Suleiman Mian, but the then Congress home minister P. Chidambaram had promulgated an ordinance to negate the verdict. Mr Chidamabaram had earlier appeared as lawyer in the Supreme Court to oppose the Raja’s claim. He reportedly used his privileged insights as a lawyer to undermine the court’s decision as minister.

The second ordinance brought by the BJP was a variant of the previous one though President Pranab Mukherjee was not happy when it was sent to him for re-promulgation but without consulting the cabinet. Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly used Rule 12 of business and transactions to send to the president the ordinance, which amends the Enemy Property Act, a 48-year-old law to guard against claims of succession or transfer of properties left by people who migrated to Pakistan or China after wars.

Mr Mukherjee signed the ordinance or executive order for the fourth time to amend the law that the government has been unable to pass in parliament. But reports said he was upset that it was sent to him this time without being routed through the union cabinet. The move broke the Raja’s heart as he was exposed to the slings and arrows unleashed at him in a communally polarised Uttar Pradesh.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2023