Tried for out of court settlement with Pak on funds: Nizams

Expressing happiness on the UK court judgement in favour of India over funds belonging to the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad, Nawab Najaf Ali, grandson of Nizam-VII, on Wednesday said he had tried for an out of court settlement with Pakistan in 2008 with regard to the disputed amount but the neighbouring country did not respond.

The UK High Court on Wednesday ruled in favour of India in the decades-old legal dispute with Islamabad over funds belonging to the Nizam of Hyderabad at the time of Partition in 1947 and deposited in a London bank account.

The Nizam's descendants, Prince Mukarram Jah - the titular eighth Nizam of Hyderabad and his younger brother Muffakham Jah, had joined hands with the Indian government in the legal battle against the Pakistan government over around 35 million pounds lying with NatWest Bank plc.

We are very happy that the judgement has come after seven years. It was my efforts. Since 2008," Najaf Ali, who resides here, told PTI.

"I started talking to the then Pakistan High Commissioner (to India). I met then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Mr Pranab Mukherjee was then the foreign minister. We met all these people and we wanted an out of court settlement that time with Pakistan. But in 2013, the Pakistan government filed a petition in the court claiming that the money belongs to them, he said.

Najaf Ali said Prince Mukarram Jah currently lives in Istanbul while his bother Muffakham Jah is in London.