Pakistan Court Dismisses Plea Seeking Ownership Of Raj Kapoor’s Peshawar Haveli

A Pakistan court recently dismissed a plea seeking ownership of iconic Bollywood actor Raj Kapoor’s Haveli in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s capital, which was designated as a national historical site by the provincial government in 2016.

Recently, a two-member Peshawar High Court bench comprised of Justices Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Abdul Shakoor dismissed the petitioner’s ownership case.

The petition was dismissed in light of an earlier decision by the same court pertaining to the acquisition process of legendary actor Dilip Kumar’s haveli in Peshawar’s famous Qissa Khwani Bazaar, which had already been declared a national heritage by the federal government led by then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s Additional Advocate General informed the court that the provincial archaeology department declared the Kapoor Haveli a national heritage site in 2016 via a notification.

At this point, Justice Shakoor questioned the archaeology department if they had any documentation or proof that the Raj Kapoor family had ever lived in the haveli.

Advocate Sabahauddin Khattak, counsel for the petitioner, Saeed Muhammad, informed the court that the petitioner’s father purchased the mansion at an auction in 1969 after competitive bidding, paid the cost, and remained the absolute owner until the provincial government initiated the acquisition process.

He further claimed that there are no documentation in any provincial government department proving that the late Raj Kapoor and his family ever lived or owned this property.

The judge, however, told the lawyer that the case ought to be taken to a civil court.

The mansion is now in disrepair, and its present owners intend to demolish it and replace it with a commercial plaza because of its prime position. However, all such plans were halted because the archaeology department wanted to preserve the mansion due to its historic significance.

The Kapoor Haveli, Raj Kapoor’s ancestral residence, is located in Peshawar’s famous Qissa Khwani Bazaar. Dewan Basheswarnath Kapoor, the famed actor’s grandfather, built it between 1918 and 1922. Raj Kapoor and his uncle, Trilok Kapoor, were both born in this house.

In the 1990s, Rishi Kapoor and his brother Randhir Kapoor visited the site.