Trust: Bid to take possession of Faridkot Maharaja’s palace

Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, July 10

In the dispute over the property of late Maharaja Harinder Singh of the erstwhile Faridkot estate, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the controversial Mehrawal Khewaji Trust on Friday accused some persons of making an attempt to take forcible possession of the property. The Trust is looking after the Maharaja’s movable and immovable property worth over Rs 25,000 crore for the past over 30 years.

This has come days after the Punjab and Haryana High Court declared a purported “will” of the Maharaja as forged and shrouded with suspicion and the Faridkot police booked 23 persons for the offence.

On the complaint of Jagir Singh Sran, the CEO of the Trust, the police rounded up some persons but released all of them later.

While Sran alleged that some persons, on the behalf of Amrit Kaur, the elder daughter of the late Maharaja, attempted to take forcible possession of the Raj Mahal, some of the persons rounded up by the police alleged that after the High Court gave a verdict in favour of Amrit Kaur, the Trust members and office-bearers were trying to tamper with the records of the trust to hide many wrongs which they had committed.

Swarndeep Singh, SSP, Faridkot, said the police were investigating these allegations. “Moreover, we have already constituted a SIT to investigate the allegations,” he maintained.

The SIT will also investigate the FIR against 23 persons, in which the daughter of the late Maharaja had accused some advocates and the Trust members of forging the “will”. A delegation of advocates and trust members on Friday approached the district police for a fair investigation into the case.

A senior functionary of the Trust said: “With this FIR, the daughter of the late Maharaja is trying to arm-twist us so that we don’t muster the courage to challenge the HC decision in the Supreme Court.”

Terming the attempt to take forcible possession of the Raj Mahal as an illegal act, the Trust members claimed that in her petition in the High Court, Amrit Kaur had never sought the physical possession of the property and the Court had not granted the same to her. So, an attempt to take possession of the late Maharaja’s property was an illegal act, Sran alleged.

Legacy entangled in legal web

• Jagir Singh Sran, the CEO of the Mehrawal Khewaji Trust, alleged that some persons, on the behalf of Amrit Kaur, the elder daughter of the late Maharaja, attempted to take forcible possession of the Raj Mahal
• However, some of the persons rounded up by the police alleged that after the HC verdict in favour of Amrit Kaur, the Trust office-bearers were trying to tamper with the records of the trust to hide many wrongs which they had committed
• A SIT has been formed to probe all aspects of the case. In an FIR against 23 persons, Amrit Kaur has accused some advocates and the Trust members of forging the ‘will’
• On the other hand, the Trust members claimed that the High Court had not granted physical possession of the property to her. So, an attempt to take possession of the Mahal was an illegal act