Jinnah's daughter vies for Mumbai home

By Krittivas Mukherjee

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The daughter of Pakistan's founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, has asked an Indian court to grant his claim to a sprawling home built by her father in India before the country's partition in 1947.

Jinnah constructed a European-style seafront bungalow in the late 1930s in Mumbai, where he lived with his wife and only daughter before moving to newly created Pakistan at independence.

For decades, Jinnah House, with its imposing columns, Italian marble and walnut paneling, was home to Britain's deputy high commissioner, but mostly fell into disuse after being vacated in 1982.

On Tuesday, Jinnah's 88-year-old daughter, Dina Wadia, who lives in New York, approached the high court in Mumbai in a bid to gain ownership of the property, built on 2.5 acres (1 ha) of land estimated to be worth about $400 million.

"Being the only child of Mr. Jinnah she is the sole heir to his property," Wadia's lawyer, Shrikath Doijode, said.

"This is the only property in India which she is claiming and which is in the possession of the Indian government at present."

DECAYING HOUSE