Anis Vila goes to Rushdie

SHIMLA, May 6: Anis Villa, the disputed ancestral property claimed by the celebrity Indian-born British author Salman Rushdie, has been fin...

SHIMLA, May 6: Anis Villa, the disputed ancestral property claimed by the celebrity Indian-born British author Salman Rushdie, has been finally restored to him after a three-year-long legal battle.

The title of the estate, a two-storey heritage bungalow located at Solan, 40 km from here, has been restored to Rushdie by the District Collector, Solan. The estate is currently being used as the official residence of Additional District Magistrate (ADM), Solan. Though the possession of the property remains with the government, changes have been made in the title deed.

What the District Collector cited for the restoration of the title to Rushdie was a registered gift deed in possession of the author.

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The other legal heirs of Maulvi Anis Ahmed Rushdie, father of the famous author, had also conceded the title to Salman Rushdie over the property, according to former District Collector of Solan, Shrikant Baldi, who passed the order just before his transfer here, last week.

The estate, measuring over three bighas with a bungalow and an attached garden, located close to the official residence of the deputy commissioner, shot into fame when Rushdie filed a writ petition in the State HC to seek its intervention for the restoration of his ancestral property to him. What provoked Rushdie was an order passed passed in 1992 by the then Deputy Commissioner on the plea that there was no claimant for the property. While the legal battle continued and the then Deputy Commissioner also faced contempt notices, the matter took an interesting turn when Baldi, acting as District Collector took a suo moto decision to re-open the case and reserve the order passed by his predecessor. As a result, the High Court later also dismissed the main petition and advised Rushdie’s lawyer to take follow-up action under relevant revenue laws. As a sequel to the District Collector’s order of November 1995, the title of the property went in favour of the late Maulvi. Rushdie filed a review petition before the District Collector claiming that he had an exclusive title over the property on the basis of the registered gift deed.

In reply to the notices, the other legal heirs of the Maulvi, who included his wife and two daughters informed the Collector that since Rushdie had a registered gift deed, the property could be given to him.The property had remained in possession of the Maulvi till 1987. For a long time, the State Education Department also remained a tenant and was paying annual rent to Rushdie. The Villa was converted into the official residence of the Additional District Magistrate.