Overview
- A bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and S.V.N. Bhatti on May 27 set aside Punjab and Haryana High Court findings and held that the private properties of the Kapurthala ruler do not pass by male‑line primogeniture.
- The Court said the merger covenant protected succession to the Gaddi, or throne, but Article XII and related provisions treat privately declared assets as ordinary property subject to personal law and normal taxes.
- Applying Hindu succession rules, the Court ordered partition and directed a preliminary decree for specific estates including the Mussoorie properties known as Chateau and St. Helens and Villa Bouna Vista at Kapurthala.
- The ruling reverses decades of family litigation that began with partition suits filed in 1977 and rejects the claim that the eldest male heir has exclusive ownership of the disputed Delhi, Mussoorie and Kapurthala assets.
- Beyond this case, the judgment clarifies how merger and constitutional precedents limit customary primogeniture after accession and may affect other disputes over former rulers' private assets across India.