A house for Mr. Rushdie?

Will Salman Rushdie, the celebrated author of Midnight’s Children and The Satanic Verses, ever live in the mansion his father purchased decades ago? He is currently fighting a legal battle to reclaim his family’s house at 4 Flag Staff Road, located just two doors down from Delhi Chief Minister Atishi’s official residence at 6 Flag Staff Road.

Rushdie’s father, Anis Ahmed, was a well-known lawyer in Delhi, renowned for his skill in cross-examining during civil cases. He practised at Tis Hazari Court and bought the bungalow on Flagstaff Road in the 1940s. Before moving there, Ahmed and his family lived in Ballimaran.

According to Professor Riaz Umer, the former Principal of Zakir Husain College, “Anis Ahmed bought the beautiful bungalow after earning significant wealth from his successful legal practice. He was also involved with the management of Anglo Arabic School at Ajmeri Gate and was always impeccably dressed. After a hard day’s work, he liked to unwind at the Marina Hotel (now Radisson Blu Hotel) in Connaught Place.”

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In the 1960s, Ahmed relocated to London. Unlike many others, he did not move to Pakistan during the Partition, but only visited Delhi occasionally. One such visit occurred in 1970, when he decided to lease the bungalow at 4 Flagstaff Road to freedom fighter and businessman Bhikuram Jain through property dealer Lajja Ram Kapoor of Rajpur Road. This story was shared with this correspondent by Jain himself at his Rajpur Road residence about 30 years ago.

At the time, Jain was living at 49 Rajpur Road. As his family expanded, he sought additional space, which led him to rent the bungalow at 4 Flagstaff Road. However, shortly after this deal, Ahmed met with Jain again, this time accompanied by Kapoor, and offered to sell the bungalow. Jain, who later became a Member of Parliament from Chandni Chowk in 1980, agreed to purchase the property for Rs 3.75 lakh—a significant amount in the 1970s. Jain paid Rs 50,000 as earnest money, with the remaining amount to be settled within 15 months.

Ahmed took the earnest money and returned to London, never to come back. He passed away in the mid-1970s without completing the sale.

Jain told this correspondent that he made repeated attempts to contact Ahmed to finalise the deal, but to no avail. Today, a legal dispute clouds the ownership of the bungalow at 4 Flagstaff Road, as all the original parties—Ahmed, Jain, and Kapoor—have passed away.

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Now, the battle is between Jain’s son, Naren, and Rushdie. Currently, Naren has control of the property, and with the real estate market’s inflation, the bungalow is now valued at approximately Rs 100 crore.

(The writer is a Delhi-based senior journalist and author of two books ‘Gandhi’s Delhi: April 12, 1915-January 30, 1948 and Beyond’ and ‘Dilli Ka Pehla Pyar – Connaught Place)