Congress Government jeopardized National security by ignoring amendments to Enemy Property Act
- In Current Affairs
- 11:52 AM, Feb 09, 2017
- Shwetank Bhushan
The Supreme Court on 6th February 2017 refused to interfere with the Central government's decision to re-promulgate the Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation Act), 2016 ordinance.
Under the ordinance all movable and immovable assets of the "enemies" and their kin or legal heirs from hostile countries, such as Pakistan and China vest with the Center.
The petitioner, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Hussain Dalwai, through his counsel Anand Grover (who came to fame for his petition to delay the terrorist Yaqub Memon's death warrant), called the December 23, 2016, ordinance "unconstitutional" and "drastic."
The SC refused to entertain the PIL challenging the fifth time re-promulgation of Enemy Property Ordinance saying: "it has no doubt in its mind that 'enemy property' must not go to the owners' descendants but to the government."
When the senior advocate Grover said that the Parliament was not taken into confidence by the government while issuing the ordinance, the SC bench rejected the contention and said: "It depends upon the issue. If the issue is very serious or affects national interests, they are free to do it (Govt). You are an MP. You must also be sensitive. It should be debated in the Parliament. Should we interfere at this stage? You can always raise the issue in the Parliament."
The petition was then withdrawn.
The Lower House (Lok Sabha) had passed the Bill in March to amend the decades-old law to guard and protect the claims of transfer or succession of properties (both movable and immovable) left by people who migrated to China and Pakistan after the wars. But the government couldn't get the bill passed in the Upper House (Rajya Sabha) as the opposition parties opposed the move.
The non-passage of this bill is one of the most bizarre decisions taken by Congress that compromises our sovereignty in the gravest way possible.
The Custodian of Enemy Property (CEP) for India is an Indian Govt. Department that is empowered to appropriate property in India owned by "enemy nationals." This legislation came in the wake of the 1965 Indo-Pak war, relates to such properties that were left behind by people who migrated to Pakistan at the time of Independence and after.
Under the notification issued in September 1965, the Central Government vested all the property (movable and immovable), entrusting the property and its appurtenances in the hands of the custodian with immediate effect. It also included all lockers, safe deposits, all negotiable instruments such as promissory notes, shares, debentures, etc. in India belonging to, held by, or managed on behalf of Pakistani nationals.
The Pakistani nationals in question were citizens of undivided India before the Partition of India took place in 1947, and left India to settle down in Pakistan.
The Central Government through CEP is in possession of enemy properties spread across many states in the country.
This ordinance has been re-promulgated five times before. Congress never allowed the house to function for it to get the parliament's sanction. The Congress party demanded the Central govt to send the amendment Bill to a Standing Committee of the Parliament, but the Narendra Modi government stood firm and refused to entertain any more delays.
According to the Home Ministry, 2186 enemy properties are in India. The state of Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of enemy properties followed by West Bengal, Delhi, and Gujarat. Among southern states compared to Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, Kerala has the largest number of properties owned by Pakistani nationals. The value is estimated to be way above Rupees One Lakh Crore.
In the state of Kerala itself, Pakistani nationals own $202 million worth of immovable property in the state. With 45 Pakistani-owned properties, Malappuram district is on the top of the list, followed by Kozhikode (9), Kannur (5), Palakkad (1) and Thrissur (1) districts. Report.
Times of India, Jul 16, 2015
Pakistan's first Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan's kin was fighting a legal battle in India claiming half of Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar city. Sounds implausible but really isn’t. Though the claims have been rubbished by the District Magistrate, strict amendments to the enemy property act were the only means to ensure such claims don't ever arise.
Imagine if properties worth billions in India, both moveable and immovable being in possession of Pakistani nationals and their kin and the proceeds from those assets goes out maintaining them. Yes, this was happening in India under the Congress regime.
The property is termed ‘enemy property' and is vested in the CEP that comes under the Union Home Ministry. But the benefits of the assets were enjoyed by their legal heirs. The incomes and proceeds went to maintaining the legal heirs.
The lack of a stringent enemy property act was not only compromising the sovereignty of the country but was also directly funding Pakistan, and its prominent people.
How can one expect the Congress government to plug in the loopholes in Enemy Property Act which did not even bother to notify the Benami Property Act that was passed way back in 1988 fearing that it may boomerang?
Amir Mohammad Khan. Photo: uppercrustindia.com
The Supreme Court ruling in favor of Mohammed Amir Mohammed Khan, son of the Raja of Mahmudabad, had set a precedent by conceding over 30,000 Crore worth of 'enemy property.'
It forced the hands of the government to come up with the amendments and a belated attempt was made to set right the loopholes in 2010. After a series of missteps, the UPA government brought an Ordinance which was promulgated at the behest of the Union Home Ministry. The Home Minister P. Chidambaram reportedly argued against the Supreme Court ruling and claimed that it had opened a Pandora's box as owners of similar ‘enemy properties' across the country coming forward to seek their restoration.
Both the Home Minister P. Chidambaram and the Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid had a heated exchange when Khurshid expressed reservations. On the other hand, Chidambaram responded, saying the minority affairs minister had been the Raja's counsel and this indicated a conflict of interest.
However, Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid mobilized the political opinion (by the set method, crying attack on minorities interest) against the Ordinance and he led a team of Muslim parliamentarians to PM Manmohan Singh urging him to withdraw the ordinance which will create chaos in UP.
The ordinance which even barred courts to restore the enemy property to heirs and then the Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill was allowed to lapse, and the Bill was also struck off the list of parliamentary business. That's how rotten the Manmohan Singh-Sonia led UPA Government was.
Why would anybody be interested in protecting "enemy property"? If an enemy's enemy is considered a friend, an enemy's friend has to be an enemy. But that is how the crooked nexus works.
No surprises the mainstream cabal worked overtime to justify Congress' lapse in enforcing the Enemy Property Act.
The Enemy Property Act of 1968 is part partition legacy of 1947 that the previous governments could have done well to settle long before it got entangled in a web of lawsuits, it's appeasement policy and communally inspired fears.
The 1968 Enemy Property Act and also the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act 1971 had many loopholes, and as a result, they could not have been implemented. The ordinance was re-promulgated by the Central Government again to amend these Acts.
The critical loopholes in these Acts that were plugged-in through this ordinance are compared here:
Exhibit 1
Exhibit 2
Exhibit 3
The impugned ordinance now says that the properties will continue to vest with the custodian not only on the enemy's death but even if he/she has a legal heir who is an Indian, or the enemy changes his nationality to that of another country. It further renounces the custodian's duty to maintain the enemy or its family in India.
The 2016 ordinance by the Narendra Modi government has amended these very critical Acts to remove the ills and the Acts are now sacrosanct.
Credit: I thank Nupur for her insight that she shared through her tweets on the subject. She tweets at @UnSubtleDesi.
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