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uddin - The Hindu

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Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin to

remain religious leader of Dawoodi
Bohra community: Bombay High
Court
Pronouncing judgment on the 10-year-old legal battle, Justice Gautam S. Patel
said, “I have only decided on the issue of proof and not faith”

April 23, 2024 01:07 pm | Updated 07:27 pm IST - Mumbai

THE HINDU BUREAU

An view of Bombay High Court in Mumbai | Photo Credit: VIVEK BENDRE

The Bombay High Court on April 23 upheld Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin’s position as the
religious leader ‘Dai-al-Mutlaq‘ of the Dawoodi Bohra community and dismissed his

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4/27/24, 9:56 PM Dawoodi Bohra succession row: Bombay HC dismisses suit against appointment of Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin - The Hindu

nephew Taher Fakhruddin’s claim that challenged Mr. Saifuddin’s position as the 53rd
religious leader of the community.
Pronouncing judgment on the 10-year-old legal battle, Justice Gautam S. Patel said, “I do
not want any upheavals. I have kept the judgment as neutral as possible. I have only
decided on the issue of proof and not faith.”
“We are delighted that the case is in our favour but we are waiting to read the judgment
copy to understand it clearly. We would be able to comment better after that,” said advocate
Abeezar Faizullabhoy.
The Dawoodi Bohra community released a statement after the judgment was announced
and said, “The rather unfortunate challenge to Syedna Saifuddin’s appointment and the
various falsehoods that it was based on has been conclusively dealt with in the said
judgment and the claims of Khuzaima Qutbuddin, the original plaintiff and his son Taher
Fakhruddin, the current plaintiff, have been comprehensively rejected. The judgment has
firmly dealt with and dismissed the misinterpretation and misleading portrayal by the
plaintiffs of the facts and the religious doctrines of the Dawoodi Bohra faith. We have
always believed and have had full faith and conviction in the Indian judiciary, which has
time and again affirmed the position of the Syedna and the Dawoodi Bohra community’s
age-old beliefs, customs, practices and doctrines,” said the statement.
After the death of the 52nd Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin in 2014, his son Mufaddal
Saifuddin succeeded as the 53rd Syedna. But this did not go well with Khuzaima
Qutbuddin, Syedna Burhanuddin’s half-brother and he challenged Saifuddin’s succession,
claiming that Syedna Burhanuddin had secretly conferred ‘nass,’ [the official declaration of
succession] upon him in 1965. Mr. Qutbuddin accused Mr. Saifuddin of taking over as the
Syedna fraudulently. He further claimed that in 1965 when the late Burhanuddin became
the Dai, he had publicly appointed Mr. Qutbuddin as the ‘mazoon’ [second in command]
and privately anointed him as his successor performing a secret ‘nass’.
After the death of Qutbuddin in 2016, his son Taher Fakhruddin led the legal
battle seeking recognition as the 54th Dai of the community claiming that his
father conferred ‘nass‘ on him.

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4/27/24, 9:56 PM Dawoodi Bohra succession row: Bombay HC dismisses suit against appointment of Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin - The Hindu

Justice Patel has been hearing the case since 2014. The final hearing of the case started on
November 30, 2022.
Senior advocate Janak Dwarkadas for Mr. Saifuddin stated that ‘nass‘ could be changed
and only the last ‘nass’ is valid which was conferred on Mr. Saifuddin by the 52nd Dai
Burhanuddin in the presence of witnesses on June 4, 2011, and was reaffirmed the same
year as successor-designate on June 20 in the presence of witnesses. Mr. Dwarkadas also
claimed that Mr. Saifuddin was appointed four times, in 1969, 2005, and twice in 2011. To
this, advocate Anand Desai presenting Mr. Fakhruddin’s case argued that once a ‘nass‘ is
conferred it can never be changed.

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