The amendments to 48-year-old Enemy Property Act are expected to be blocked in Rajya Sabha after main Opposition parties put their dissent in the Select Committee. The MPs of Congress, CPI, Samajwadi Party and JD(U) opined that original law was balanced and fresh changes violate the basic principle of natural justice.
The opposition party MPs said the proposed changes would result in punishing lakhs of Indian citizens and have no effect on any ‘Enemy Government’. The representatives of the four parties — K C Tyagi (JD-U), K Rahman Khan, P l Punia and Husain Dalwai (all Congress), D Raja (CPI) and Javed Ali Khan (SP) — gave their dissent notes in the Select Committee report on amendments to the Enemy Property Act, 1968, tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Friday.
“The provisions of the present Bill, 2016 are contrary to the aforesaid principles and if allowed to be inserted in the Act, 1968, not only the entire balance will be disturbed but also the same would not sustain in the courts of law. Thus, we are submitting this dissent note with the request that the same may kindly be treated and circulated as part and parcel of the report of this committee,” the dissent note said.
In April, the Government had promulgated an ordinance to amend the Enemy Property Act to guard against claims of succession or transfer of properties left by people who migrated mostly to Pakistan after the wars. Since the NDA Government does not enjoy majority in the Rajya Sabha, the proposed amendment bill is unlikely to pass the Upper House hurdle as the four parties opposed the move.
The Centre had designated some properties belonging to nationals of Pakistan as “enemy properties” during 1962, 1965 and 1971 conflicts. It vested these properties in the ‘Custodian of Enemy Property for India’, an office instituted under the Central Government. The Enemy Property Act, 1968, regulates these enemy properties, and lists the powers of the custodian.
In the wake of the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971, there was migration of people from India to Pakistan. Under the Defence of India Rules framed under the Defence of India Act, the Government took over the properties and companies of such persons who had taken Pakistani nationality. The Centre through the Custodian of Enemy Property for India is in possession of enemy properties spread across many States in the country. In addition, there are also movable properties categorised as enemy properties.
The Select Committee, headed by BJP’s Bhupender Yadav, has recommended that once the Government implements the proposed amendments to dispose of the enemy property under section 8A on the ground level by selling, the interest of the present occupant/tenant may be taken care of for the time being so that the tenants are not unsettled all of a sudden or the running business of the financial institutions/PSUs does not get disrupted.
The Committee said the just and fair system of delivery of justice should be incorporated in the rules governing the enemy property and it should be given wide publicity for the benefit of stakeholders.