SYEDNA SAIFUDDIN IS DAWOODI BOHRA SPIRITUAL HEAD: BOMBAY HIGH COURT
MUMBAI: Bombay high court on Tuesday settled a 10-year-long legal battle over the question of succession to the Syedna, the spiritual leader of the million-plus Dawoodi Bohra community.
A single judge bench of Justice Gautam Patel dismissed a suit filed in 2014 by the half-brother of the late Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, the 52nd Da'i al-Mutlaq, claiming he had been appointed successor to the highest spiritual position for the Shia sect.
The now deceased Khuzaima Qutbuddin had claimed that through direct, private communication he had been conferred 'nass'-the procedure by which a Dai declares his successor-in 1965. However, based on the evidence of witnesses, the court held the 'nass' conferred by the 52nd Dai on his own son Mufaddal Burhanuddin Saifuddin as the valid one.
"I only addressed the question of proof, not faith," said Justice Patel, who has presided over the civil trial since 2014. Through a process marked by deposition of witnesses and cross-examination of both plaintiff and the defendant over the years, the verdict on who will assume the title of Syedna is intended to resolve the leadership to a spiritual order that dates back to the 12th century. The line is said to have begun in 1132 in Yemen. The HC had set out five issues in the suit, including the preliminary issue on whether it was maintainable. The court held that the suit was maintainable but did not accept the claim that 'nass' conferred on Qutbuddin via a private communication on Dec 10, 1965 was valid. A 'nass' is the bequest of a predecessor to his successor making him the next Dai for 1.5 million members of the Bohra community across the globe.
The suit hearing had concluded in April 2023 and the judgment was reserved since then. Referring to the verdict, Justice Patel said, "I have kept it as neutral as possible."
Counsel for the plaintiff, Taher Fakhruddin Qutbuddin, who had stepped in to pursue the case after his father's passing in 2016, Anand Desai and Samit Shukla, said they would analyse the judgment before taking any decision on what to do next. Taher Fakhruddin is a cousin of the present Syedna.
The late Khuzaima Qutbuddin had originally filed the suit in 2014 after the death of the previous Syedna, claiming he was conferred 'nass' through direct communication on Dec 10, 1965 and that the then Dai had indicated this publicly in a sermon. Qutbuddin's lawyer Desai had submitted that the line of Imams and Dais is preordained and the names of each Imam and Dai are known to the Imam of the time. Besides, the custom of sajda-prostrating before the Dai- was practiced for almost 25 years before Syedna Qutbuddin by even the defendant among others, they argued. He cited prior instances to show private 'nass' sans witnesses was valid and an accepted doctrine in the community.
After Qutbuddin passed away in 2016, his son, Taher Fakhruddin stepped in as the plaintiff to continue the legal battle and seek orders to declare himself as his father's successor and the 54th Dai. The final arguments began on Nov 28, 2022 after months and years of painstaking depositions by over 15 witnesses.