TAG: GS 2- POLITY
THE CONTEXT: A parcel of land in Uttar Pradesh, previously belonging to the family of former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, is set to be auctioned under The Enemy Property Act.
EXPLANATION:
About the Enemy Property:
- The Enemy Property Act 1968defined an ‘enemy’ as a country (and its citizens) that committed external aggression against India (i.e., Pakistan and China).
- Enemy property means any property for the time being belonging to or held or managed on behalf of an enemy, an enemy subject or an enemy firm.
- These properties are of those left behind by the people who took citizenship of Pakistan and China after leaving India during the partition and after the 1962 war.
- In 2017, Parliament passed The Enemy Property(Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016, which amended the 1968 Act and The Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971.
- It expanded the definition of the terms “enemy subject”, and “enemy firm” to include the legal heir and successorof an enemy, whether a citizen of India or a citizen of a country which is not an enemy, and the succeeding firm of an enemy firm, irrespective of the nationality of its members or partners.
- The amended law provided that enemy property shall continue to vest in the Custodian even if the enemy or enemy subjector enemy firm ceases to be an enemy due to death, extinction, winding up of business or change of nationality, or that the legal heir or successor is a citizen of India or a citizen of a country which is not an enemy.
- The maximum of Enemy Properties is located in Uttar Pradesh (5936), West Bengal (4301), Delhi (659) & Goa (295). The enemy properties are spread over 23 states/UTs in India
What is the Enemy Property Act 1968:
- The Enemy Property Act, 1968, an Act of the Indian Parliament, allows and governs real estate allocation in India possessed by Pakistani nationals.
- The act gets enacted in the aftermath of the 1965 Indo-Pakistani war. The Guardian of Enemy Property for India, a government department, receives ownership. There are also enemy properties, which are movable properties.
Why were these amendments brought:
- The amendments aimed to guard against claims of successionor transfer of properties left by people who migrated to Pakistan and China after the wars. The main aim was to negate the effect of a court judgment in this regard.
- The statement of objects and reasons in the Billsaid: “Of late, there have been various judgments by various courts that have adversely affected the powers of the Custodian, and the Government of India as provided under the Enemy Property Act, 1968.
- In view of such interpretation by various courts, the Custodian is finding it difficult to sustain his actionsunder the Enemy Property Act, 1968.”
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