Owner of Raj Kapoor’s mansion refuses to sell it for Rs15 million

PESHAWAR: Owner of Indian film legendry actor Raj Kapoor’s ancestral house refused to sell the house for Rs15 million. The landlord demanded Rs2 billion from the government. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has fixed the total value of Raj Kapoor’s house around Rs15 million.

The PTI government had decided to buy the ancestral homes of Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor in Peshawar and convert them into museums. The district administration had enacted Section Four for the purchase of both ancestral houses. An amount of Rs24 million has been released to the deputy commissioner on Tuesday for the purchase of both the houses.

Haji Ali Qadir, the owner of the house, while talking to The News, rejected the decision to fix the price of the house at Rs15 million and said that half a marla of land is not available in Dhaki Nalbandi near historical Qissa Khwani bazaar for Rs15 million and the government is giving us Rs15 million for a six marla house. He said that the attitude of the government towards the ancient and historic house is ridiculous.

He said that his father Haji Khushal had bought the house in 1965 through a government auction which has five stories, so we will sell the house only if the government pays at least Rs2 billion for the historic house. “When our father bought the house, the gold was Rs50 per tola. In this house, diyar wood is used which is very expensive," he said.

He said that a piece of land less than half a marla near this house has been sold for about Rs15 million. He said that the government has not made any formal contact yet but they are getting news from the media.

Dr. Abdul Samad, Director, Archeology and Museum, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told this scribe that the government has fixed the price of the house at DC rate as plots are bought and sold at DC rate in the area. The government has a record of many years of transfers, including the cost of transfer per marla of this area. The government cannot pay more than this rate. However, if the owner has an objection to the price, he can submit an application to the Deputy Commissioner for which the price can be increased appropriately under land acquisition

The price of land for Raj Kapoor’s house has been fixed at Rs1,15,27,709 and the cost of the structure has been fixed at Rs3,473,280. The total price of Raj Kapoor’s house has been fixed at Rs15 million.

The price of the land of Dilip Kumar’s house has been fixed at Rs7,280,658 while the building division of C&W has fixed the price of the structure of Dilip Kumar’s house at Rs776,038. The total value of the house has been fixed at Rs80,056,696.