Hyderabad funds case: No files on Nizam cash says Centre

Hyderabad: The Centre has said that it has no records of the six-decade-old Hyderabad Funds case in which over a million pounds of the Nizam’s wealth was transferred to the then High Commissioner of Pakistan in London in 1948.

The money has now grown to £30 million, according to estimates. India, Pakistan and the Nizam’s family are fighting a legal battle in a London court for rights over the money.

Central information commissioner Prof M. Sridhar Acharyulu informed RTI activist Akbar Ali Khan that the external affairs ministry had stated that it had no documents on the case. The CIC has directed the MEA to state whether negotiations had started between India and Pakistan over the cash.

Told about this development, Mohd Safiullah, managing trustee of the Deccan Heritage Trust, who has been keenly following the case, found it hard to believe.

Case history

• September 20, 1948: £1,007,940, belonging to the then Nizam’s Government, transferred into an account of the then High Commissioner for Pakistan in London. The order was passed by the Nizam’s finance minister two days after Police Action.
• September 27, 1948: The Nizam says transfer had been made without authorisation, wants money bank. It refuses.
• 1957: Account frozen by British Parliament.
• April 2008: Centre clears negotiations with Pakistan for the money.
• November 2013: Pakistan claims right over the money, British court says it revoked its immunity.
• March 2014: Nizam’s heirs demand the money.