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High Court of Judicature at Bombay adjudicated a suit concerning succession to the position of Dai al-Mutlaq in the Dawoodi Bohra community. The dispute involved competing claims based on alleged nass (spiritual designation) requiring proof of valid succession under customary religious law.

High Court: Bombay High Court Bench: BOMBAY

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2026-11-12 15:37:13

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Issue of Consideration

Validity and proof of nass of succession among Dawoodi Bohras; requirements of a valid nass; revocability of nass; proof of specific nass dates including 10 December 1965, 28 January 1969, November 2005, 4 June 2011, 20 June 2011; evaluation of documentary, oral, expert and electronic evidence; burden of proof; adverse inference.

Case Details

2024 LawText (BOM) (04) 83

Suit No. 337 of 2014

2023-04-23

GS Patel J

2024:BHC-OS:6579

For Plaintiff: Mr Anand Desai, Advocate with Chirag Mody, Nausher Kohli, Samit Shukla, Saloni Shah & Shivani Khanwilkar, i/b DSK Legal; For Defendant: Mr IM Chagla, Senior Advocate; Mr JD Dwarkadas, Senior Advocate; Mr FE DeVitre, Senior Advocate; Mr Pankaj Savant, Senior Advocate; Mr Firdosh Pooniwalla, Senior Advocate; with Azmin Irani, Abeezar Faizullabhoy, Shahen Pradhan, Murtaza Kachwalla, Jehaan Mehta, Ammar Faizullabhoy, Chirag Kamdar, Juzer Shakir, Jaisha Sabavala & Mustafa Maimoon, i/b Argus Partners

Taher Fakhruddin Saheb alias Taherbhai K Qutbuddin alias Taher Bhai Qutubuddin

Mufaddal Burhanuddin Saifuddin

Nature of Litigation

Civil suit involving dispute over succession to religious leadership (Dai al-Mutlaq) in Dawoodi Bohra community, based on alleged nass (spiritual designation).

Filing Reason

Plaintiff claimed to be the rightful successor to the 52nd Dai based on an alleged nass conferred on 10 December 1965, while defendant claimed competing nass of later dates.

Issues

Validity and proof of nass dated 10 December 1965 Requirements of a valid nass Revocability of nass Proof of nass dated 28 January 1969 Proof of nass dated November 2005 Proof of nass dated 4 June 2011 Proof of nass dated 20 June 2011

Judgment Excerpts

By any measure, ten years is a very long time for a lawsuit to come to final judgment. Voluminous pleadings, over ten thousand documents of various description including historical texts going back several centuries, nearly a dozen witnesses with depositions of many thousands of questions and pages, and arguments that, even in a severely curtailed form ran for over a month, all ensured a prolonged trial.

Procedural History

Suit filed in 2014; trial lasted about ten years; plaintiff's evidence completed in court; defendant's evidence partly in court and partly before a commissioner; more than ten thousand documents and nearly a dozen witnesses examined; arguments ran for over a month; judgment reserved on 5 April 2023 and pronounced on 23 April 2023.

Acts & Sections

Code of Civil Procedure, 1908:
Indian Evidence Act, 1872:

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High Court of Judicature at Bombay adjudicated a suit concerning succession to the position of Dai al-Mutlaq in the Dawoodi Bohra community. The dispute involved competing claims based on alleged nass (spiritual designation) requiring proof of valid succession under customary religious law.

Issue of Consideration

Case Details

Nature of Litigation

Filing Reason

Issues

Judgment Excerpts

Procedural History

Acts & Sections

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