In Brief
Talat Fatima Hasan, granddaughter of the deceased Nawab Raza Ali Khan of Rampur, sued for partition of properties he had declared private under the 1949 merger agreement with India. The defendant son claimed succession as sole heir under the rule of male primogeniture applicable to the Gaddi (rulership), while the plaintiff argued personal law should apply as she was an ordinary citizen after merger. The Supreme Court held that succession to private properties declared by rulers in merger agreements is governed by the personal law of the ruler, not the law of the Gaddi. Rulers after merger were no longer sovereigns but held limited privileges under the Constitution. The Gaddi and private property are distinct; succession to private properties therefore follows the ruler's personal law—here, Muslim Sharia law for Shia succession. The Court allowed the appeal and directed distribution according to shares computed under personal law.
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