Enemy properties are those left behind by people who have taken citizenship of China and Pakistan
Over 9,400 properties worth more than Rs 1 lakh crore left behind in India by people who have taken citizenship of China and Pakistan, will be auctioned with the Home Ministry starting the process to identify all such estates, official said.
The move came after the 49-year-old Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Act was amended, which ensured that the heirs of those who migrated to Pakistan and China during Partition and afterwards will have no claim over the properties left behind in India.
At a recent meeting, Home Minister Rajnath Singh was informed that the survey of 6,289 enemy properties has been completed and that of the remaining 2,991 properties which are vested with the custodian will be completed, a Home Ministry official said.
Mr Singh directed that those properties which are free from encumbrance should be disposed of quickly for monetisation. The estimated value of these 9,400 properties is Rs 1 lakh crore and when they are sold off, it would be a huge windfall for the government, another official said.
Similar properties in Pakistan belonging to Indians have already been disposed of. Nodal officers are being appointed by state governments to coordinate identification, vesting and valuation of enemy properties, the official said.
Among the 9,280 properties left behind by Pakistani nationals, the highest 4,991 properties are in Uttar Pradesh, followed by West Bengal which has 2,735 such estates. There are 487 such properties in Delhi.
Among the 126 properties left behind by Chinese nationals, the highest 57 are located in Meghalaya followed by West Bengal with 29. Assam has seven such properties.
The government has vested these properties in the custodian of enemy property for India, an office instituted under the central government. After the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965, the Enemy Property Act was enacted in 1968, which regulates such properties and lists the custodian's powers. The government amended the law in the wake of a claim laid by the heirs of Raja Mohammad Amir Mohammad Khan, known as Raja of Mahmudabad, on his properties spread across Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.