The Hindu : International : Lid lifted on a legal fiction

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 16, 2005

International

International

Lid lifted on a legal fiction

Hasan Suroor

The Maple v Maple case involves King Fahd and his "former wife"

LONDON: For months, the case had been listed simply as "Maple v Maple,'' but until this week nobody, not directly involved with it, knew who the "Maples'' were.

The mystery has been solved as it emerged that the "Maples'' were a legal fiction created to protect the identities of the real litigants — the ailing King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, and Janan George Harb who claims to be one of his former wives and has sued him for higher maintenance claiming that she needs more money to maintain her lifestyle in London's fashionable Knightsbridge where she lives.

The lid on what had so far been a secret trial was lifted when the High Court in London allowed Ms. Harb to appeal against a previous ruling that, as a Head of State, the King was entitled to sovereign immunity against legal action.

Huge interest

It also ruled that the appeal be heard in an open court, setting the stage for an unprecedented public airing of the Saudi royal family's affairs.

The case has already attracted huge media interest here because Ms. Harb (57), — believed to be of Jordanian origin — is a British citizen. As newspapers sought out "experts'' on the Fahd family, The Times quoted one specialist as saying that this was the first time anyone had sued the family for maintenance.

"I don't think it has ever happened,'' he said. Ms. Harb, who has lived in Britain since the seventies, first filed a case against the King more than a year ago claiming that he had failed to provide her "reasonable maintenance.'' The King's lawyers, however, argued that he could not be sued because he enjoyed sovereign immunity — and, in a ruling in October last year, Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, the family judge who heard the case upheld the argument. It was she who gave the case a fictitious title arguing that the King was entitled to secrecy, and that once the media "become aware of this they will dig a great deal deeper.''

That ruling has now been overturned.

An anonymous friend of Ms. Harb's was quoted as saying that she "still loves the king... (and) her case is really against his advisers.''

The appeal is expected to be heard in November.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

News Update

Stories in this Section

Iran's reformist threatens to quit poll

Hosni Mubarak to run for fifth term

A farewell to Fleet Street

Annan faces new claims in oil scandal

Hong Kong official's papers declared valid

Lid lifted on a legal fiction

India seeks early warning system for disasters soon

"Indian films cannot be allowed now"

Wireless tool that keeps track of your children

Quake: tsunami fear in California

"Maoist problem was main focus of talks"

`Sheikh Rashid was given hundreds of acres'