• Pakistan court dismisses plea seeking ownership over Raj Kapoor’s Peshawar Haveli

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    Pakistan court dismisses plea seeking ownership over Raj Kapoor’s Peshawar Haveli
    The Peshawar High Court's two-judge panel, which was made up of Justices Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Abdul Shakoor, dismissed the petitioner's case on Thursday.


    Digital Desk: A Pakistani court has rejected a plea seeking ownership of renowned Bollywood actor Raj Kapoor's Haveli in the old walled city here in the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which the provincial government proclaimed a national heritage in 2016.

    The Peshawar High Court's two-judge panel, which was made up of Justices Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Abdul Shakoor, dismissed the petitioner's case on Thursday.

    The court dismissed the petition in light of an earlier ruling by the same court concerning the acquisition of legendary actor Dilip Kumar's haveli in Peshawar's renowned Qissa Khwani Bazaar, which had already been declared a national landmark by the federal government led by the time prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

    The court was informed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province's Additional Advocate General that the Kapoor Haveli was designated a national treasure by the provincial archaeology department through a notification in 2016.

    Justice Shakoor questioned the archaeological division about this to find out if they had any records or other evidence indicating the Raj Kapoor family had ever occupied the haveli.
    Saeed Muhammad's petitioner's attorney, Advocate Sabahauddin Khattak, informed the court that Saeed Muhammad's father had bought the mansion at auction in 1969 following competitive bidding, paid for it, and continued to be the sole owner up until the start of the acquisition process started by the provincial government.

    Furthermore, he asserted that there are no records in any provincial government department that show the late Raj Kapoor and his family ever occupied or owned this property.
    The bench advised the attorney, however, that a civil court should be used to resolve the issue.