Paigah royal families and Cyrus Group in land row, Telangana State steps in

Hyderabad: The Telangana state government has ordered for an inquiry into the Rs 36,000-crore worth disputed properties that are being claimed by members of the Paigah royal families and Cyrus Investments Ltd.

The government has initiated an inquiry following representation made by some of the Paigah family members, against Cyrus Investments, Dr P.S. Prasad, Goldstone Infratechs and Trinity Infratech. The government has also sought Rs 2,000 crore as tax on the said property, but the matter is pending since the dispute is in court.

According to members of the Paigah family, after the demise of Mir Osman Ali Khan, Nizam VII, several Paigah family properties, worth Rs 36,000 crore as per current rates, were under government’s possession. This was fought in the court of law. Around 100 defendants of Paigah families got a court order in their favour, said Hameedunnisa Begum, one of the heirs of the Khurshid-Jahi-Paigah estate. She added that all these lands located in Hafizpet, Hydernagar, Hashmatpet, Malkaram, Nacharam etc., are also being claimed by Cyrus Investments Group, which says it had bought the properties from Nizam VII. However, the registration documents were made after the death of Nizam, and are false and fabricated, she said.

"My age was fabricated. In 1966, my age was nine years, whereas Cyrus Investments showed my age as 22 in the documents. This is totally false,” said Hameedunnisa Begum. Nawab Moiz Jung, Hameedunnisa Begum’s son, alleged that a person by name P.S. Prasad had sold the Paigah lands by illegally taking the GPA from the Cyrus groups.

Last year in April, Cyrus Investments issued a public notice stating that the power of attorney issued in favour of Prasad was revoked and all those dealing with him did so at their own risk. Cyrus Investments, which owns 9.2 per cent of the Shapoorji Pallonji stake in Tata Sons, claims it bought the land from the heirs of Mir Osman Ali Khan, in 1967.

The Paigahs are now urging the TS government to help them.