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A bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar said the plea filed by Sultana Begum was completely misconceived. Read further on Dynamite News
Supreme Court
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a plea filed by a woman claiming to be the descendant of last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar and seeking possession of Red Fort for being the legal ‘heir’.
A bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar said the plea filed by Sultana Begum, widow of great-grandson of Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar-II, was “misconceived" and “meritless". The bench dismissed the petetion filed against the Delhi High Court order.
The Bench said that the plea is meritless and sarcastically asked the petitioner that if the plea is to be entertained then “Why only Red fort? Why not Fatehpur Sikri? Why leave them also. Writ is completely misconceived."
Sultana Begum, who lives in Howrah in West Bengal had filed a petition claiming that the family was deprived of their property by the Britishers after the first war of Independence in 1857. After that the emperor was exiled from the country and possession of the Red Fort was forcefully taken away from the Mughals.
The plea claimed that she inherited it from her ancestor Bahadur Shah Zafar-II, who died on November 11, 1862 at the age of 82, and the government of India was an illegal occupant of the property.
The petition sought a direction to the Centre to hand over the Red Fort to the petitioner or give adequate compensation.
On 4 April the Supreme Court declined to entertain a Writ Petition under Article 32 seeking immediate judicial intervention to regulate and restrict access to social media for children under 13 years of age.
The petition highlighted an unprecedented mental health crisis due to excessive digital exposure and urged the Court to enforce strict age verification mechanisms.
A bench comprising Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice A G Masiah observed that the issue falls within the realm of policy-making and directed the petitioners to approach the government instead. "We are not inclined to entertain this petition," remarked Justice Gavai, emphasizing that such regulatory matters should be addressed by Parliament.
The petition was filed through Advocate-on-Record Mohini Priya. She argued that unrestricted social media access for young children violates their fundamental rights under Article 21, which includes the right to mental well-being, dignity, and healthy development.
The petitioners sought a complete ban on social media for children below 13, citing alarming statistics on rising depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rates among minors due to algorithm-driven addiction. It also urged the Court to implement mandatory biometric-based age verification for social media platforms, Parental controls and real-time monitoring for children aged 13-18.
