MUMBAI, 6 October 2007 — Trying to set at rest the controversy over the ownership of the Jinnah House in Mumbai, the Indian government on Thursday told the bench comprising Chief Justice Swantanter Kuman and Justice Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud of the Bombay High Court, that it was not willing to give up its claim on the Jinnah House, the sprawling bungalow on the posh Malabar Hill, which was built by Pakistan’s founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah.

Opposing the ownership plea of the America-based 88-year-old Dina Wadia, daughter of Mohammed Ali Jinnah and mother of renowned Indian industrialist Nusli Wadia of Bombay Dyeing, the deputy secretary of Ministry of External Affairs, G. Balasubramanian in his 37-page affidavit submitted to the court said that Wadia is not the legal heir of the palatial bungalow and that the Indian government owns it.

Wadia had staked claim over the property which is valued at several million rupees.

The affidavit further stated that it has been the consistent stand of the Indian government that late Fatima Jinnah, unmarried sister of Jinnah, was the rightful legal heir and it was bequeathed to her by a will  dated May 30, 1939. Fatima even obtained a succession certificate from the Bombay HC on Jan. 11, 1962, for the execution of the will. She even paid income tax on the property.

The fact that Fatima had taken steps to claim the property goes to prove that Wadia was excluded from inheriting the property. Dina had married textile industrialist Neville Wadia in 1938 against her father’s wishes and stayed in India after partition. In 1962, she moved to the USA after separating from her husband.

“Fatima Jinnah migrated to Pakistan at the time of partition and was an evacuee. The property was therefore taken over by the custodian as evacuee property,” Balasubramanian sated in the affidavit and pointed out that that the petitioner herself admitted that Jinnah wished that the bungalow be rented out to a foreign family or consulate.

The government’s stand is that Wadia’s petition is not maintainable as she is neither the evacuee nor the heir of an evacuee, whose property was taken over by the government.

Recognizing that Jinnah is an important historical figure, the affidavit stated that there are competing claims based on sentiments attached to his legacy like that of the Pakistan government, which wants to occupy Jinnah House for their consulate.