IT is the extraordinary £100-million (US$151-million) diamond worn by the Queen Mother at the Coronation of her husband and then her daughter.

    But the Koh-i-Noor, which also dazzled in the crowns of Queen Alexandra and Queen Mary, could be stripped from Britain’s Crown Jewels and returned to India.

    Bollywood stars and businessmen have united to instruct lawyers to begin legal proceedings in London’s High Court. They are demanding that the British Government return the 105-carat diamond, which they say was stolen from its true home.

    The move could result in some awkward moments at a lunch the Queen is hosting for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Buckingham Palace this week, although a Royal source said the row was strictly off the agenda.

    It also reopens a controversial case in British colonial history and adds to the legend of the Koh-i-Noor, which can be worn only “by God or a woman.”

    David de Souza, of the Indian leisure group Tito’s, who is helping to fund the fight, said, “The Koh-i-Noor is one of the many artifacts taken from India under dubious circumstance.”

    He claimed colonization had stolen wealth and “destroyed the country’s psyche.” And Bollywood star Bhumicka Singh added, “The Koh-i-Noor is not just a 105-carat stone, but part of our history and culture and should undoubtedly be returned.”

    The British Government has rejected demands for the return of the oval-shaped stone, which was presented to Queen Victoria in 1851.

    On Saturday night, historian Andrew Roberts told The Mail, “Those involved in this ludicrous case should recognize that the British Crown Jewels is precisely the right place for the Koh-i-Noor diamond to reside, in grateful recognition for over three centuries of British involvement in India, which led to the modernization, development, protection, agrarian advance, linguistic unification and ultimately the democratization of the sub-continent.”

    The case has drawn comparisons to that of the Elgin Marbles, the ancient sculptures held at the British Museum that Greece wants returned. However, Roberts said, “Britain has an even better case to keep the Koh-i-Noor, acquired as the result of a legally binding treaty, than the Elgin Marbles, which is also watertight.”

    The diamond was given to Queen Victoria by the last ruler of the Sikhs, Duleep Singh, after the British annex of the Punjab. The handing over of such a revered gem is still considered a national humiliation in India.

    British lawyers instructed by the “Mountain of Light” group (the translation of Koh-i-Noor) to repatriate it said Saturday night they would base their case on the Holocaust (Return of Cultural Objects) Act, which gives national institutions in the U.K. the power to return stolen art.

    Satish Jakhu, of Birmingham-based law firm Rubric Lois King, said they would make their claim under the common law doctrine of “trespass to goods,” arguing that the British Government had stolen the diamond. He added they would also be taking the case to the International Court of Justice.(SD-Agencies)