A high court in the United Kingdom on Wednesday ruled against Pakistan in the decades-old Hyderabad Fund case. The case pertains to the Hyderabad Fund, an amount of £35 million transferred to Pakistan by Osman Ali Khan, the 7th Nizam of the former princely state of Hyderabad, before its forcible annexation to India.
The court has ruled in favour of the heirs of the Nizam, stating that “there is no illegality alleged that is sufficient to cause this Court to prevent the Princes and India – specifically, India – from asserting her claim to the Fund.” The proceedings were started in 2012 when then Pakistani High Commission Wajid Shamsul Hassan had waived Pakistan’s immunity in the matter.
Pakistan’s counsel Khawar Qureshi was not able to build a successful case resulting in a verdict that went against Islamabad’s expectations.
“Pakistan’s illegality argument fails for the following reasons: (1) First, India is indeed correct in her assertion that the question of illegality is “analytically irrelevant” to the claim to the Fund advanced by India. “(2) Secondly, even if the question of illegality were relevant to India’s claims, the Settlement between the Princes and India has rendered the issue irrelevant because the rival claims to the Fund of the Princes and India have validly been compromised, such that the question of illegality is no longer before the Court,” read the verdict issued on Wednesday.
The Foreign Office announced that Pakistan was closely examining all aspects of the detailed judgment and would take further action in light of legal advice. “Pakistan has taken note of the judgment by the High Courts of Justice of the UK in the Hyderabad Fund Case, today, after a 2 weeks trial in June 2019. The judgment rejects the longstanding claims of the two major parties and upholds the claims of the heirs of Nizam of Hyderabad,” read an FO statement. “The ruling does not take into account the historical context of the transfer when India illegally annexed Hyderabad in violation of International Law and all civilised norms, leading the Nizam of Hyderabad to make desperate efforts to defend his people and the state from Indian invasion,” it further stated.
