Nashwa Noushad, daughter of culinary expert Noushad, popularly known as ‘Big Chef’ among Keralites, has revealed through a Facebook post that her family has appropriated her father’s assets. Chef Noushad passed away in August 2021, two weeks after his wife’s demise. Nashwa is the couple’s only child, and she alleged that her maternal uncle Hussain claimed legal guardianship over her, following which he and other family members took over Noushad’s catering business.
“After my parents passed away, my uncle Hussain, along with Nasim and Podimol, claimed legal guardianship of me through the court without my knowledge or consent. Now they appropriated my parents’ assets including my father’s famed catering business, and have been using it for their own profits. As they use the proceeds to ensure their children live comfortably, I have been struggling with my routine expenses. They won’t even fund my education…If at least one of my parents were alive, this would never have happened to me…” reads Nashwa’s Facebook post, published on Wednesday, 16 August.
Nashwa also shared a picture of her complaint to the Thiruvalla Circle Inspector of police, seeking help. “My family has been advertising my father’s catering business using my name without giving me anything…I want to protect my father’s legacy..this is not how my parents wanted me to grow up…” Nashwa adds in her post.
When the note went viral, many netizens speculated that this could be fake news. Nashwa then shared a Facebook live on 17 August along with her lawyer, confirming the statements in her post. Her advocate was also present alongside her in the live, and he said that initially when this matter came up a year ago, he urged the family members to settle this among themselves.
“After Chef Noushad and his wife’s demise, Nashwa’s mother’s brother Hussain got a guardianship from the Pathanamthitta court after concealing this move from Noushad’s brother. He has since not paid any attention to the daily expenses of the child including food. He has used this guardianship to conduct Noushad’s catering business without sharing any details or proceeds with Nashwa, who is the heir to her parents’ assets,” he said.
Nashwa’s lawyer also explained that when a person is appointed as guardian to a minor, they must conduct affairs for the welfare of the child, and said that a petition challenging Hussain’s guardianship has been filed and is awaiting orders. “This is about safeguarding the rights of a child who has been orphaned,” he added.
While this issue has now become a conversation point on social media, several people have also pointed out that even if she goes to court, it will be difficult for Nashwa to claim her ancestral properties owing to the gender disparity in Shariat inheritance laws.
The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, deals with marriage, succession, and inheritance among Muslims. According to this law, if a person dies leaving behind only daughters and no sons, the daughters are entitled to inherit only two-thirds of the father’s property, and the rest will go to his siblings. If the deceased has a son, then the daughters get only half of what the son gets.
To bypass this legal deadlock, many Muslim couples are now registering their marriages under the Special Marriage Act, 1954. A Special Leave Petition (Khuran Sunnath Society and Others v Union of India) demanding gender justice in the Shariat Act is currently pending before the Supreme Court.