New Delhi: Historians will be interested in Pakistan publicly acknowledging that it was supplying arms, Senior Indian lawyer Harish Salve remarked on Wednesday after the UK court ruled against Pakistan in the decades-old Hyderabad fund case.
"The historians would be interested in seeing Pakistan's open acceptance that they were supplying arms. And who could they be supplying to, the Razakars obviously in India," Salve told media after the court's ruling?
While the UK court acknowledged that there was evidence of the supply of arms by Pakistan to Hyderabad, it refused to be persuaded by Pakistan's Arms for Money argument, under which Islamabad claimed that the funds were transferred to compensate/reimburse/indemnify Pakistan for assistance provided in procuring/facilitating the supply and/or transportation of weapons, according to media reports.
"The English court said, yes, there is evidence to suggest you were paying for arms, there is evidence to suggest you were supplying arms, but this account was not for that, there it said we will not allow you this defence," Salve added.
In its judgement, the UK High Court rejected Pakistan's claim that the fund had been intended as payment for arms shipments or as an outright gift. The Court has held that beneficial ownership in the fund as on 1948 lay with the 7th Nizam and that it had been held on trust to his benefit and that of his successors in the title since then.
The Court also held that Pakistan's pleading of limitation was an "abuse of process" and that remedies in trust law and restitution were available against both Pakistan and the Bank. Having found that the 7th Nizam was beneficially entitled to the fund, the Court today concluded that those claiming in right of the 7th Nizam, that is, India and the two grandsons of Nizam were now entitled to have the fund.
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