‘Why stop at Red Fort?’ SC rejects ownership claim by Mughal emperor’s family with sarcastic quip

New Delhi: It’s not every day that the Supreme Court hears a plea demanding the return of the Red Fort — especially from someone claiming to be a Mughal emperor’s great-granddaughter-in-law. The apex court on Monday dismissed a petition filed by a woman who claimed ownership of Delhi’s iconic 17th-century monument, arguing that she was the widow of the great-grandson of the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar II.

The court was not amused. Well, maybe just a little — Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna quipped, “Why only the Red Fort? Why leave out Fatehpur Sikri?” before promptly dismissing the petition as “wholly misconceived.”

A bench led by Khanna, along with Justice Sanjay Kumar, rejected the petition filed by one Sultana Begum, who had challenged a Delhi High Court order that had earlier dismissed her claim.

Sultana Begum had argued that the Red Fort had been forcibly taken by the British East India Company in 1857 and sought compensation from the Government of India for its alleged illegal possession ever since. Her original petition was dismissed in 2021 by a single judge of the Delhi High Court on the ground of an inordinate delay in approaching the courts. A division bench upheld that decision in December 2024. She claimed to be the rightful heir to the Mughal dynasty and, therefore, the legitimate owner of the Red Fort — a claim the court declined to entertain.