Owners of Dilip Kumar & Raj Kapoor's ancestral houses in Pakistan reject govt's offer

The owners of the ancestral houses of legendary Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar and Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government have been urged to reach a settlement over the rate fixed for the purchase of the historic buildings. However, the owner has refused to sell it at a rate fixed by the government. While citing the reason for denying the offer by the government, the owner of Dilip Kumar's house said that he would demand Rs 25 crore for the prime location property which is severely undervalued by the authorities. 

Dilip Kumar's house in Pakistan

Haji Lal Muhammad, the owner of actor Dilip Kumar's ancestral house in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said that he had purchased the property in 2005 for Rs 51 lakh after completing all formalities required for the transfer of the land and possesses all the documents of the house. He further added that it is unjust on part of the government to fix the rate at Rs 80.56 lakh for the property after 16 years. Muhammad explained that the four Marla property is very expensive in Mohallah Khudadad Qissa Khwani Bazar, where the rate of one Marla land is above Rs 5 crore. 

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In January 2021, the provincial government approved the release of Rs 2.35 crore to purchase the ancestral houses of the two legendary actors, Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor, located in the heart of this city. The price of Dilip Kumar’s four marla (101 square metres) house has been fixed for Rs 80.56 lakh. Meanwhile, the prize offered for Raj Kapoor’s six marla house (151.75 square metres) was Rs 1.50 crore. 

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Raj Kapoor's ancestral home, known as Kapoor Haveli, is situated in the fabled Qissa Khwani Bazar. It was built between 1918 and 1922 by the legendary actor's grandfather Dewan Basheswarnath Kapoor. Last month, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister's special assistant on information Kamran Bangash said that he is hopeful that the provincial government would reach an amicable settlement with the owners of both the buildings for their purchase to convert them into archaeological museums. 

The owners of the two buildings have made several attempts in the past to demolish them for constructing commercial plazas in view of their prime location. However, all such moves were stopped as the archaeology department wanted to preserve them, keeping in view their historic importance. The buildings have been declared the national heritages by the provincial government.

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(With Inputs from PTI)