Tripura royal family loses claim to historic Neermahal
ঐতিহাসিক নীরমহল আর রাজ পরিবারের নয়, মালিকানা পেলো ত্রিপুরা সরকার

January 09: The royal family of Tripura has lost Neermahal dispute in the High Court on Monday. The high court has given the verdict that the Neermahal is not the property of the royal family. It is notable that, Rajmata Bibhu Kumari Devi filed a petition and claimed that the land of Neermahal is the property of the royal family and they want its possession. After that the State Government challenged the lower court verdict in Tripura High Court.

On Monday, a division bench comprising chief justice A A Kureshi and justice Arindam Loadh of Tripura High Court pronounced the verdict. They were of the opinion that this land totally belongs to the government of Tripura and thus the government can use it for the development of the people. After the verdict, royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarma said, “I challenge the government to provide one legal document to suggest that my father ‘gifted’ Neermahal to them. I will challenge the matter in Supreme Court.”

Advocate General Arun Kanti Bhowmik said fomer King of Tripura Late Kirit Bikram Manikya’s personal property at Melaghar’s Neermahal made with six acre of land including the lake and Neermahal was handed over to Tripura Government in 1974 totally. While Kirit Bikram Manikya passed away in 2008, his wife Bibhu Devi filed a petition challenging the government and claimed that the land was never handed over fully.

It was demanded that the property was only given as order to use and thus government has to return the land and also the profit made from it, said advocate general Arun Kanti Bhowmik. In the lower court the case was won by Bibhu Devi in 2015. After that the State Government challenged the lower court verdict in Tripura High Court.

Surrounded by the picturesque Rudrasagar lake, Tripura’s ‘Neermahal’, or lake palace, was built by Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur. Commissioned by the King in 1930, the royal summer resort was built by British company Martin and Burn in nine years in the middle of the lake Twijilikma.

The red and white palace had been the crown jewel of Tripura’s 500-year-old Manikya dynasty rule and is a favourite among tourists for decades now. Popularly known as Tripura’s ‘Lake Palace’ —it is one of the two palaces in the country surrounded by a water body. The second one is Rajasthan’s ‘Jal Mahal’.bIt is situated in Melaghar, 53 kilometers away from Agartala, the capital of Tripura.