Lucknow’s once-grand three-storeyed Butler Palace, left deserted and in darkness for many decades, will soon see a facelift. Some locals believe the palace, built on the banks of the Gomti river almost a century ago, in a mix of Rajasthani and Indo-Mughal styles, is ‘haunted’. Neighbours say the palace has been stripped of its brass and other sellable parts by drug and alcohol addicts, though the police deny this.
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The palace, originally built as the official residence of the commissioner of Avadh, Harcourt Bulter, in 1915, was owned by the family of rajas of Mahmudabad. According to their own accounts, the family migrated to India in the 13th century and settled in erstwhile Avadh, current Lucknow, in the 16th century, and owed allegiance to the Mughals. Mohammed Amir Ahmad Khan, the raja at the time of independence, migrated to Pakistan, while his son Mohammad Amir Mohammad Khan, stayed in India as a citizen, fighting a legal battle over several properties, including Butler Palace.
After the Indo-Park war in 1965, Butler Palace was declared “enemy property” by the Government of India. The Enemy Property Act, 1968 that came later made the stand more binding. This is one of 361 “enemy properties” in Lucknow alone, say authorities, with many originally belonging to the Mahmudabad family. It was only last month, however, that the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) got a go-ahead to spruce up the place for tourism.
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Restoration work under way at the Butler Palace in Lucknow. | Photo Credit: SANDEEP SAXENA
“We have received the NOC from the Custodian of Enemy Property department [under the Central government], roughly three weeks ago. We will start the renovation of the palace soon,” said Indramani Tripathi, vice chairperson of the LDA.
The authorities are revitalising Butler lake, for which the LDA already had the rights, by constructing pathways along the perimeter, landscaping, lighting, and a cafeteria for visitors. For the palace itself, the LDA plans to renovate and strengthen the building and construct a musical fountain in front. Up to ₹5 crore each has been allocated for work on the palace and the lake, he said. “We will complete the project in roughly four months. It will serve as a tourist place along with a heritage look,” he added.
After being declared enemy property in the 1960s, the premises were handed over to the Uttar Pradesh government, who used it as a sales tax office. In the 1980s, it was given to the Indian Council of Philosophical Research (ICPR), an organisation under Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).
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Mohammad Amir Mohammad Khan died last month at 80 years of age. The former MLA fought a more than four-decade-long court battle against the Union of India and got a brief respite in 2005, when the Supreme Court declared the raja was a bona fide citizen of the State and not an enemy as defined by the Act. However, in 2010, the Union government brought in an ordinance, subsequently passed in 2017, to amend the Act, bringing successors under its ambit. The family is still fighting the case in the Supreme Court over properties that include the Butler Palace.
“We have no comments to make, the matter is sub-judice in the Supreme Court,” said Ali Khan Mahmudabad, an heir of the former royal family.
The palace is hardly 5 kilometres from Kalidas Marg, the Chief Minister’s house. Pre-independence, “The who’s who of British India including the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru spent time here,” said Amit Rai, a historian teaching at Shia P.G. College in Lucknow. Since independence, several political leaders have stayed there.
Lake rejuvenation work is progressing on the Butler Palace premises. | Photo Credit: SANDEEP SAXENA