Quaid's grandson Nusli Wadia stakes claim to Jinnah House

Wadia's mother Dina died in 2017

Nusli Wadia, the maternal grandson of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, has been allowed by the Bombay High Court to replace his deceased mother Dina as petitioner in a decade-old ownership contest over the star lawyer-politician's sprawling Mumbai residence.

Dina, Jinnah's only child, died in 2017. The house in question is located in Mumbai's Malabar Hill area. Wadia approached the BHC after his mother’s passing.

The industrialist's counsel argued he should be allowed to substitute Dina as the petitioner in her 2007 writ as his mother’s legal heir and representative. Dina last will dated April 2009 detailed her properties in India.



The central government’s counsel AM Sethna said as Wadia had not obtained probate, he could not substitute as her legal heir and representative.“We are keeping this issue open to be agitated at the time of hearing of the petition,” a bench comprising Justices Ranjit More and Anuja Prabhudessai said.



Earlier in 2017, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker demanded Jinnah House be demolished and a cultural centre be built in its place. “Jinnah House is a symbol of Partition. The structure should be demolished," MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha said.

This article originally appeared in The Times of India.