Man Wants to Own Qutub Minar, Court Says ‘No’

NEW DELHI, (IANS) – A Delhi court on September 20 dismissed the appeal of a man claiming to be the heir of a royal family in Agra and seeking ownership of the Qutub Minar.

Kunwar Mahendra Dhwaj Prasad Singh, who claims to be the heir of the united province of Agra has sought the right over territories from Meerut to Agra. His plea was a twist amidst the temple restoration row.

The suit claimed that 27 Hindu and Jain temples were desecrated and damaged in 1198 under the Slave Dynasty Emperor Qutub ud din Aibak who constructed the said mosque in place of those temples.

Singh’s said he belongs to the Beswan Family and heir of Raja Rohini Raman Dhawaj Prasad Singh and descendants of Raja Nand Ram who had died in 1695.

“When Aurangzeb became firmly established on the throne, Nand Ram submitted to the emperor and was rewarded with the Khidmat zamindari, revenue management of Joar and Tochigarh,” his plea said.

In 1947, during the time of Raja Rohini Raman Dhawaj Prasad Singh, British India and its provinces became free and independent. However, after the independence of India in 1947, the Indian government neither entered any treaty, nor there was any accession, nor there was an agreement with the ruling family, the applicant argued.

“The Central government, state government of Delhi and state government of Uttar Pradesh without due process of law encroached upon the legal rights of the applicant and misused the power, allotted, allocated and death with the property of the applicant,” it said.