An Indian family has asked the British government to repay a loan of 35,000 rupees given by their ancestor during World War I — 109 years ago — and the UK’s Debt Management Office has responded by requesting documentation to verify the claim.
The family of the late Jummalal Ruthia, a prominent businessman from Madhya Pradesh, says he gave the money to the British government on June 4, 1917, to help fund the upkeep of Indian soldiers fighting on Britain’s behalf in the war. They possess a certificate issued on that date as evidence of the transaction, which they describe as a wartime loan.
Great-grandson Gautam Ruthia told the BBC: “We received an email from the British government asking for certain information to verify the matter. They said it has been referred for investigation. We are providing whatever they need for verification.”
British authorities have not confirmed they will accept the claim. The document request is part of their verification process.
The family learned of the loan documents earlier this year. Grandson Vinay Ruthia told the BBC: “At the start of this year, while going through old papers for another legal matter, we discovered this loan document and contacted the British government through a lawyer.”
Gautam Ruthia said the family intends to claim the principal plus simple interest, compound interest and any arising costs, adjusted for inflation. The final amount has not yet been calculated.
The claim gains context from a 2014 disclosure in the British Parliament that the UK had about 2.2 billion pounds in outstanding WWI-era debt, which was repaid on March 9, 2015. The Ruthia family’s loan may or may not have been included in those bond redemptions — that is one of the questions the verification is expected to resolve.
The family says Jummalal Ruthia was a wealthy businessman who owned a cattle farm with about 3,000 animals, cultivated opium and drove a Rolls-Royce. He died in 1937, a decade before Britain left India in 1947. The family says the loan was never repaid or settled.
British authorities have asked for genealogical records, old certificates, details of the loan amount and forms from the period to verify whether the family making the claim today is the same one that made the original loan in 1917.
The family has indicated it may pursue legal action or arbitration if the verification process does not resolve the matter.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report