Petition seeking ownership of Kapoor mansion in Pakistan dismissed

A Pakistani court has dismissed a petition seeking ownership of veteran Bollywood actor Raj Kapoor's mansion. This mansion of Raj Kapoor was declared a national heritage in 2016 by the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court on Thursday rejected the petitioner's plea for ownership of the mansion. Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Abdul Shakoor were included in this bench.
The court pronounced this decision keeping in mind an order related to the occupation of veteran actor Dilip Kumar's mansion. Dilip Kumar's mansion is located in Peshawar's popular Qissa Khwani Bazaar. Nawaz Sharif's government declared this haveli as a national heritage in 2016.
On this, Justice Shakur asked the Department of Archeology whether they had any documents or evidence to show that Raj Kapoor's family had ever lived in this mansion. Saeed Muhammad's lawyer Sabahuddin Khattak, who filed the petition, replied in the court that the petitioner's father had bought this mansion during an auction in 1969. Since then he is its owner.
Advocate Khattak claimed that no such evidence exists with any department to prove that Raj Kapoor or his family had ever lived in this mansion. However, the bench of judges still said to take the matter to the civil court.
This mansion of Raj Kapoor is now in a very dilapidated condition. The top and the fourth floor of the luxurious five-storey building with 40 to 50 rooms have collapsed. Its current owners want to demolish this mansion and build a commercial plaza here. However, the Department of Archeology is against it. Keeping in mind the historical importance of this haveli, he wants to preserve this heritage.
Raj Kapoor's Haveli is famous for being the first choice for wedding parties before the Partition in 1947. Due to the non-availability of bookings in the haveli, the dates had to be extended by 6-6 months. But after the earthquake, its condition worsened. In 2016, then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif declared these houses a national heritage, but no one had even reached a peep to preserve them.
This mansion was built between 1918-1922 by Dewan Basheshwarnath Kapoor, father of Prithviraj Kapoor and great-grandfather of Rishi Kapoor. According to a wooden plate outside the mansion, the construction of the building began in 1918 and was completed in 1921. This haveli has 40-50 rooms and beautiful motifs are carved on the exterior of the haveli. There are luxurious jharokhas made in it. Raj Kapoor and his uncle Trilok Kapoor were born in this haveli. In 1990, Rishi Kapoor and Randhir Kapoor had come to see the mansion.
Dilip Kumar's ancestral mansion is also near Kapoor Haveli. The owners of both the havelis had tried several times to demolish them and build a commercial plaza, but the government did not approve it.