MP family’s 109-year-old loan to British govt may be repaid; UK agrees to examine claim

Sehore (MP): More than a century after a businessman from Madhya Pradesh lent Rs 35,000 to the British government to fund its World War I expenses, his grandsons have claimed the UK authorities have responded and agreed to examine their request for repayment.

Speaking to reporters in Sehore on Monday, Vinay and Vivek Ruthia, descendants of an erstwhile Nagar Seth (prominent businessman and landholder), said their legal counsel sent a notice to the UK Debt Management Office in February based on records and correspondence left behind by their grandfather, Seth Jumma Lal Ruthia, who passed away in 1937.

The brothers claimed that they received a response and the UK government has agreed to examine their request. During World War I, a large number of Indian soldiers joined the British Army, with the government raising crores of rupees from India to fund food, water, and other war expenses, they said.

The Ruthia family, at the time, lent Rs 35,000 to the British government, and the documentation for the 109-year-old loan was found in the records, the brothers said.

The document, frayed and yellowed by time, reads, “Seth Jumma Lal Ruthia subscribed Rs 35,000 to the Indian War Loan, thereby showing his loyalty to the Government and Empire.” The document, dated June 4, 1917, carries the signature of a political agent in Bhopal.

Sixty-five-year-old Vinay Ruthia explained that when the document surfaced, a legal notice was sent and hard copy to the UK government’s Debt Management Office through his lawyer Shriyansh Raniwal. Recently, his lawyer received a response from the UK Debt Management Office (DMO), which offers the family an opportunity to pursue the matter further through additional documentation.

The DMO, an executive agency of the government’s Treasury ministry, has not confirmed or denied the claims. “If you believe that your client may be entitled to an unclaimed payment, you should contact the gilt registrar, Computershare Investor Services PLC, providing what information you have relating to the holding in question. We have passed on the information and documentation you have provided, but it would be helpful if you can provide copies of any other documentary evidence you have, including certificates and correspondence,” the DMO stated in its letter to the lawyer.

According to the Ruthia brothers, the value of the Rs 35,000 loan, including interest of more than a century, would amount to several crores today.

Vivek Ruthia (63) said his grandfather Seth Jumma Lal died in 1937, 20 years after lending the sum to the British government. He said the document and correspondence with the British government were found among old papers, along with his grandfather’s will.

The British government borrowed this money to streamline its management of the Bhopal state, and Vivek Ruthia claims that under international law, a sovereign country is, in principle, legally bound to repay its old debts.