Economic
Times: New Delhi: Monday, 04 May 2015.
Akbar Ali
Khan, who has laid claims to Nizam of Hyderabad's property, has taken the Right
to Information (RTI) route to get records of a million pound bank transfer
dating back to September 1948, which was the basis of the property dispute
between India, Pakistan and the heirs to Nizam's property.
Though the
government has been unable to trace any records of the funds transfer, the
Central Information Commission has come to the rescue of the Nizam's heir and
directed the Ministry of External Affairs to provide all details of India's
discussions with Pakistan to settle the 66-year-old dispute and agreement over
how the assets would be divided.
Khan, who has
had Mumbai's administrators looking into old land records with his claims over
Nizam's ancestral property in Maharashtra, had sought information from the
department of justice on the amount deposited by Nizam's finance ministerMoin
Nawaz Jung in National Westminster Bank, London, in the name of the then
Pakistan high commissioner HI Rahimtoola. The amount of £1 million was
deposited even before the Nizam had made up his mind on which country to join.
Just then,
the Indian forces had invaded Hyderabad and the Nizam had to join India. The
transfer was done without the knowledge of the Nizam. His subsequent
instructions to transfer the funds back were not complied with, and this had
led to arbitration in British courts. The deposit had grown to about £30
million, or ` 300 crore. This money has to be distributed among-- India,
Pakistan and the Nizam's heirs.
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