Legal teams from India and Pakistan are awaiting a historic court judgment on the fate of $45 million that has been hidden away in a London bank since the partition of the two countries in 1947.
The royal Nizams of Hyderabad were among the richest dynasties in colonial-era India, known for their grand Chowmahalla Palace residence and lavish displays of wealth. The seventh and final Nizam, who in the 1940s was one of the wealthiest men in the world, gave Queen Elizabeth II a diamond tiara and a diamond necklace made by Cartier as a wedding gift when she married Prince Philip.
The money has been tied up in a National Westminster bank account to this day. After 70 years of steadily growing interest, the account is now worth a staggering $45 million. When Nizam Osman Ali Khan tried to recover the funds from the bank account in the 1950s, Pakistan refused. The case then went to the House of Lords, then the highest court in the land, and Pakistan successfully argued that as a sovereign nation it could not be sued, meaning the money would be locked away, with neither party able to access it for the foreseeable future.
What about the interest?