Nizam's heir goes by Blue Book, wants market rate for acquired land

Times of India: Hyderabad: Wednesday, July 05, 2017.

Buoyed by the progress of the investigation into the land scam at Miyapur and other places in the city, Nawab Mir Najaf Ali Khan, the grandson of the seventh Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan, has now renewed his fight to reclaim the vast parcels of land owned by the last Nizam.

Most of these land parcels are either under illegal occupation or were acquired by the then Hyderabad state government allegedly without paying the promised compensation.The Nizam VII had 23,253 acres of land in his possession after the `Police Action' in September 1948. The details of the Nizam's land were published in the 'Blue Book' and notified by the central and state governments in the early 1950s.

According to Nawab Najaf Ali Khan, of the 23,253 acres mentioned in the 'Blue Book', the state government had claimed to have purchased 15,964 acres from the Nizam in March 1956 for a consideration of Rs 4 lakh, the present market value of which is pegged at over `50,000 crore. He told TOI that though the state government claims to have paid the money , there is no official record to prove the transaction.In fact, Nawab Najaf Ali had filed two petitions under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking details about the transaction but failed to get any response from the authorities concerned.

"I had represented the issue to the chief minister and deputy chief minister, who is in charge of the revenue department. They directed the Hyderabad district collector to gather details," he said, adding that there was no response from the district authorities in the last two years.The Nizam's grandson, who is also the president of the Nizam's Family Welfare Association, demanded that the state government either produce proof of payment towards purchase of the land or return the land acquired from the former ruler of Hyderabad.

The central government entered into an agreement with the Nizam after the `Police Action', providing the former ruler certain facilities like Privy Purse, determination of his private properties and guarantee of his personal rights and privileges.The agreement was entered between the Governor-General of India and the Nizam on January 25, 1950, a day before India became a republic. The agreement had four articles. Later, a letter dated November 30, 1953, of Ministry of State India (present home ministry) listed the inventory of the immovable properties. This came to be known as the `Blue Book'. The Centre accepted it as a private property of the Nizam. There is, however, no record of the compensation paid by the state for acquisition of the 15,964 acres.