UK court says 35 million pounds belongs to Hyd Nizam’s heirs, rules against Pakistan

London, Oct 03: The High Court of England and Wales has ruled in India's favour and the two descendants of the late 7th Nizam of Hyderabad, who had sent 1 million pounds to a London in 1948.

Pakistan had claimed that the money on the ground was a payment for supplying arms to the state of Hyderabad during the annexation in 1948. The Nizam had transferred the money to the then Pakistan ambassador in London for safekeeping. The amount continued to remain in the National Westminster Bank in London. The amount today is estimated at 35 million pounds.

The court said that although the Government of Hyderabad was involved in the purchase of weapons in order to resist what the Nizam saw as attempts by India to forcibly annex Hyderabad, and although the second account was used to pay for some of these weapons, the court does not consider that the transfer had anything to do with the purchase of the weapons or the compensation of Pakistan for the purchase of weapons.

"It is appropriate to record that the Nizam's successor in the title can be no-one other than the Princes or India...I have seen no hint of the possibility of any further claimant to the Fund, beyond the Princes and India, the judge also said.

"In these circumstances, Nizam VII was beneficially entitled to the Fund and those claiming in right of Nizam VII - the Princes and India - are entitled to have the sum paid out to their order. I will leave it to the parties to frame an appropriate form of order for my approval," the court also ruled.