WHO OWNS THE RUSHDIE FAMILY PILE?

ARVIND JAIN, pictured right, in front of the Delhi house which is the subject of a court battle with Salman Rushdie, regarding disputed ownership. Mr Rushdie is attempting to reclaim the property that his father once owned. Mr Jain is adamant he is entitled to stay, and is not going without a fight. "We are not going anywhere and are entirely confident of winning this case," he said.

The battle is the subject of much local gossip. In Mr Rushdie's novel, The Moor's Last Sigh, he described the residents of an Indian mansion at war with one another. "Once divided, always divided, in the household it was a fight to the bloody finish," he wrote. Many in Delhi believe Mr Rushdie's own words could come back to haunt him.

Focus, page 23

PHOTOGRAPH BY DIETER LUDWIG