Raj Kapoor, the legendary Indian actor, producer and director, is considered one of the greatest showmen in the history of Hindi cinema.
He went on to become a leading actor and director, creating some of the most iconic films in Indian cinema such as Bobby, Shree 420 and Awara, among others. Lately, the yesteryear star has been in the headlines as a petition seeking ownership over legendary actor Raj Kapoor’s Haveli in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was filed. In the latest development, the Peshawar High Court has dismissed a petition, according to PTI.
In 2016, the provincial government declared the Haveli, once owned by the family of Raj Kapoor, a national heritage site. Recently, a bench of judges consisting of Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Abdul Shakoor dismissed a case related to the acquisition process of the Haveli. The judges referred to a previous judgement made in a similar case related to the Dilip Kumar Haveli, another historic property located in Peshawar’s Qissa Khwani Bazaar and declared a national heritage site by the federal government.
In court, the Additional Advocate General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province acknowledged that the Kapoor Haveli was acknowledged as a national heritage site in 2016 by the provincial archaeology department. Despite this confirmation, Justice Shakoor expressed scepticism about the department’s claim and requested evidence to support the Kapoor family’s ownership or residency in the Haveli.
The petitioner, Saeed Muhammad, countered by asserting that his father had successfully bid for the mansion in 1969 and had retained full ownership until the provincial government initiated an acquisition process. Furthermore, he argued that there was no evidence indicating that the Kapoor family had ever possessed or resided in the property.