Parliament of India on 14 March 25, 2017, passed the long-pending Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016, which gives control to the government to get hold of the properties left behind by the persons who shifted to Pakistan or China after wars.
In the past years, total 5 ordinances on the bill have been promulgated. And the last of these ordinances would have expired on Tuesday.
Amir Mohammed Khan, the beneficiary of an erstwhile Raja of Mehmoodabad – who is challenging a case in the Supreme Court for possession of 900 properties in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand –could turn out to be the biggest loser.
Veteran actress Sharmila Tagore and her family, including Saif Ali Khan, may also get affected by this bill, as a name in the family of her late husband Mansoor Ali Khan was said to have shifted in Pakistan about 40 years ago.
“The main purpose of the act is to simplify the 1968 Act. Inheritance law will not be valid on enemy properties. This will a conclusion to the long awaiting matter which should have supremely ensued in 2010 when the bill was initiated,” said home minister Mr. Rajnath Singh in his respond to a argue on the bill.
Refusing the arguments of Opposition members that the bill dishonored the standards of “natural justice” and amounted to “human rights violations”, the home minister said: “Pakistan has detained the properties of Indian citizens. It will be expected fair dealing if their properties (of those who migrated to Pakistan) are not returned”.
He confident the Lok Sabha that there would be no human rights disobediences following the amendments, as rights of Indian citizens was not being taken away.
“The bill only affects on successors of enemy property. The leaseholders of such property in India will be managed by the Tenancy Act,” he said.
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What is Enemy Property?
After the war of Indo-China and 2 wars between India & Pakistan (1965 & 1971), the Government of India captured the properties of residents of China and Pakistan in India under the Defense of Indian Acts. These Acts described - an ‘enemy’ as a nation that committed an act of attack against India, and its inhabitants, then the assets of inhabitants of enemy’s countries in India were declared as the enemy property. The assets included residential & commercial properties, plots, gold and jewelry, and shares etc.
