What exactly is enemy property?

Following the 1962 Indo-China conflict and the 1965 and 1971 India-Pakistan wars, the Indian government assumed ownership of movable and immovable properties left behind by those who fled India following the wars. These properties, which are dispersed throughout various Indian states, are regarded as enemy properties.

The office of the Custodian of Enemy Property for India (CEPI), created under the Defence of India Act of 1939, is in charge of enemy possessions in India. The centre essentially controls all enemy possessions in India via the Custodian. Following the 1965 war, India and Pakistan signed the Tashkent Declaration in 1966, promising to discuss the possible restoration of assets captured by either side during the conflict.

What exactly is the enemy property law?

The Enemy Property Act, enacted in 1968, provided for the custody and management of enemy property. Consequently, the centre was obliged to revise the 50-year-old statute in 2017 due to an increase in succession claims by the legitimate heirs of the original owners of enemy assets. “Recently, there have been many rulings by various courts, negatively impacting the authority of the CEPI (Custodian) and the government of India as granted under the Act,” the bill’s text states, naming particular examples.

A 2005 Supreme Court decision was notably influential in dramatically increasing the amount of such lawsuits. When it came to the ownership of the estate of the former Raja of Mahmudabad, the Supreme Court decided in favour of his son, who claimed possession after his father died in 1973. Following the partition, his father, who owned many historic properties in Sitapur, Lucknow, and Nainital, fled India for Iraq. He obtained Pakistani citizenship in 1957 and then relocated to London, where he died. Despite the fact that the raja’s wife and son remained in India as Indian nationals, the raja’s estate was considered enemy property under the provisions of the 1968 enemy property statute. After an almost four-decade legal fight, the Supreme Court returned the raja’s inheritance to his son. The order, however, was rendered null and void when the rules of the 2017 law went into effect retroactively. The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016, was proposed with the intention of amending the Enemy Property Act of 1968 and the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act of 1971. The Bill was adopted in parliament when the Lok Sabha passed it in March 2017. To broaden the meaning of ‘enemy’ and ‘enemy subject,’ the 2017 legislation specified that heirs of persons who left India during the conflicts of 1962, 1965, and 1971, regardless of nationality, cannot claim ownership over enemy possessions.

Key Components Of The 2017 Enemy Property Law

enemy definition

The term of ‘enemy’ and ‘enemy subject’ encompasses any enemy’s legal heir and successor, whether a citizen of India or a citizen of a non-enemy nation. It will also incorporate in the designation of ‘enemy firm’ the succeeding firm of an enemy firm, regardless of the nationality of its members or partners. It further states that the law of succession, as well as any customs or potential uses controlling succession, will not apply to enemy property.

In-charge

Under the Defence of India Rules, 1962, the Custodian retains ownership of enemy property. Even if the enemy, enemy person, or enemy firm ceases to be an enemy owing to death, extinction, business wound up, or change of nationality, the enemy property will remain to vest in the Custodian. This is true even if the legal heir or successor is an Indian citizen or a citizen of a non-enemy nation.

Only the Custodian can dispose of such properties with the prior consent of the federal government. “No adversary, enemy subject, or enemy firm shall have any right, and shall never be believed to have any right, to transfer any property vested in the Custodian, and any such transfer shall be unlawful,” it states.

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