Bombay High Court rejects lawsuit challenging Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin’s appointment in the Dawoodi Bohra succession dispute

MUMBAI: A 2014 petition challenging Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin’s designation and standing as the head of the Dawoodi Bohra Community was dismissed by the Bombay High Court on Tuesday. Overseeing a single bench, Justice Gautam Patel stressed that the court’s ruling was grounded on the facts rather than in issues of faith.
Khuzaima Qutbuddin first filed the lawsuit soon after his brother Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, who was 102 years old, passed away in January 2014.

After Burhanuddin’s passing, Syedna was taken up by his second son, Mufaddal Saifuddin.
Following Qutbuddin’s death in 2016, his son, Taher Fakhruddin, assumed control of the court cases, claiming that his father had given him the power. The goal of the case was to stop Saifuddin from performing his duties as Syedna.

In his lawsuit, Qutbuddin said that, before the mazoon was made public on December 10, 1965, his brother Burhanuddin had designated him as the mazoon (second in command) and had secretly nominated him as his successor via a private “nass” (conferment of succession).

According to Fakhruddin, his father gave him the job and appointed him before he passed away.
As Justice Patel dismissed the lawsuit, he said, “I want there to be no disruptions.” I have attempted to maintain the judgment’s objectivity. My decision pertains only to facts; it has nothing to do with faith.”
Among Shia Muslims, there is a religious group known as the Dawoodi Bohras.
It was founded as a network for merchants and business owners, and now it has over 10 lakh members worldwide and over 5 lakh members in India.

The most senior religious figure in the community is referred to as the Dai-al-Mutlaq.
According to Dawoodi Bohra ideology and religion, a successor is chosen by “divine inspiration.”.
Although it is often the case, a “nass” may be awarded to any worthy member of the community and is not always given to the current Dai’s family.

In the lawsuit, the HC was asked to stop Saifuddin from serving as the Dai-al-Mutlaq.
Additionally, it requested access to Saifi Manzil, the Syedna’s Mumbai home, claiming that Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin had assumed the position of leadership in a “fraudulent manner.”.
Qutbuddin said that Burhanuddin officially selected his half brother as the mazoon (second in command) and secretly anointed him as his successor via a secret nass when Burhanuddin succeeded his father, Syedna Taher Saifuddin, as the new Dai-al-Mutlaq in 1965.

Qutbuddin said that Burhanuddin requested that he keep the private nass a secret. He said that, up to the time of his passing, he kept the pledge of secrecy that the 52nd Dai had given him.
The 1965 nass was not admissible, according to Syedna Saifuddin, who argued that there were insufficient witnesses for the case.

He said that nass might be altered or canceled in accordance with the widely accepted and established principles of the Dawoodi Bohra religion.
According to Syedna Saifuddin’s allegations, on June 4, 2011, at the Bupa Cromwell Hospital in London, where he was confined after a stroke, the 52nd Dai bestowed nass on him in front of witnesses.