Daughters win royal battle for Faridkot estate

NEW DELHI: Bringing to an end the 30-year long legal battle among family members of erstwhile Faridkot Maharaja Harinder Singh Brar over who should inherit properties worth around Rs 20,000 crore, the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld Punjab & Haryana high court’s order that ruled in favour of his daughters Amrit Kaur and Deepinder Kaur and had declared that the trust, which was managing the affairs of the estate, was created on the basis of a forged will.

A bench of Chief Justice U U Lalit and Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Sudhanshu Dhulia said all three courts below including Punjab and Haryana HC extensively examined the evidence and they all were unanimous in their findings. It said there was no reason to upset the concurrent view taken by the courts.
The bone of contention was the third will, which was allegedly executed by Harinder Singh in 1982, as per which the entire property would be inherited by a Trust known as ‘Maharwal Khewaji Trust’. He was survived by three daughtersnamely Amrit Kaur, Deepinder Kaur and Mahipinder Kaur. He died in 1989 and family members came to know about his alleged third will which superseded earlier wills.

After his death, the board of trustees took over the possession, control and management of the entire estate of Raja Harinder Singh Brar with the assent of the executors. The properties located in various revenue estates were mutated in the name of the Trust and the urban properties were also trans-ferred in the name of the Trust.

The eldest daughter Amrit Kaur, who was not made part of the Trust, filed a suit for declaration that she is owner of 1/3rd share of the property and also challenged the veracity of her father’s third will. The second suit was filed by the younger brother of Harinder Singh, seeking inheritance of the entire estate on the basis of the Rule of Primogeniture.

The youngest daughter, Mahipinder Kaur, expired in 2001 when the matter was still pending before the trial court. She was unmarried and died without leaving any heir.