A century-old financial document has triggered a legal debate in Sehore district of Madhya Pradesh. A business family is exploring legal options to recover a ₹35,000 war loan allegedly given to the British administration in 1917. The claim is based on a preserved certificate said to be proof of investment under the Indian War Loan scheme. The family is now considering sending a legal notice to the British government.
Sehore-based businessman Vivek Ruthia said the document surfaced after reviewing old family records following his father’s death. According to him, the certificate, dated around 1917, is in the name of his grandfather, Seth Jumma Lal Ruthia. The document reportedly states that ₹35,000 was provided as a war loan to support British administrative and war-related expenses. The certificate is said to carry the signature of WS Davis, then political agent of the Bhopal Agency, and mentions that the investment was made as a gesture of loyalty to the British administration.
The family claims that reports from 2015 indicate the British government settled certain war-era bonds linked to World War I and World War II. They argue that if any portion of the war loan corpus remains unpaid, they should be entitled to their share. In March 2015, the British government reportedly released about 1.9 billion pounds as part of the final settlement of specific war bonds. However, legal experts caution that such old financial claims may face serious hurdles due to limitation laws and international jurisdiction issues.
Sources say the family is consulting specialists in Indian and international law and plans to send an official legal notice, though no case has yet been filed. The Ruthia family also states that they were once among the affluent business families in the Sehore and Bhopal regions and still claim ownership of certain properties allegedly under illegal possession. Experts note that if the matter reaches an international forum, the authenticity of documents, contractual validity of the loan, and jurisdictional authority will require thorough examination. For now, the century-old war loan claim remains under legal review.
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