Delhi High Court imposes ₹10,000 fine on man claiming ownership of all lands between Ganga and Yamuna

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday imposed costs of ₹10,000 on a man who moved the Court claiming ownership of lands which today form parts of Agra, Meerut, Aligarh and 65 revenue estates of Delhi, Gurgaon and Uttarakhand [Kunwar Mahender Dhwaj Prasad Singh v Union of India]. .The petitioner, Kunwar Mahender Dhwaj Prasad Singh, moved court saying that he is the heir of Beswan Avibhajya Rajya, which never merged with the Union of India.He claimed that even today, his family holds the status of a Princely State and that all the territories owned by them were never transferred to the Indian government.Singh sought directions to the government to formally adopt the process of merger with the ‘Sovereign State of Beswa Avibhajay Rajya of Beswan’ and pay him the revenue collected for these lands since the year 1950.Among a host of other reliefs, Singh also sought directions to the Government of India not to conduct Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, State assembly or local body elections in his territory till the official merger..Justice Subramonium Prasad noted that Singh had only filed only certain maps and articles which do not indicate the existence of the Beswan family or shed any light on how he has any right to succeed to the said princely state. The Court held that the petition was completely misconceived, an abuse of process of law and a complete waste of judicial time. “This Court is of the opinion that the writ petition is completely misconceived. The claims raised by the Petitioner in the present Writ Petition cannot be gone into or adjudicated in a writ petition. The Petitioner has only filed some maps, historical accounts, which in the opinion of this Court does not indicate any existence of the Beswan family or existence of any right of the Petitioner. The judgments, extracts from Wikipedia report, documents of political integration of India, Instrument of Accession also do not substantiate the case of the Petitioner,” the Court said.The Court, therefore, dismissed the plea and ordered Singh to deposit ₹10,000 with the Armed Forces Battle Casualties Welfare Fund within a period of four weeks..Advocate ML Sharma appeared for the petitioner.Union of India was represented through Central Government Standing Counsel Ajay Digpaul and Advocates Kamal Digpaul and Swati Kwatra..Notably, Singh had earlier approached Delhi's Saket Court claiming ownership of the Qutub Minar.The plea was rejected by the court on September 20, 2022..[Read Judgment]