Centre starts process of eviction, sale of 12K 'enemy properties'

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 19

The Centre has set in motion the process of eviction and sale of “enemy properties”, which are immovable assets left behind by people who have taken citizenship of Pakistan and China, officials said today.

According to the data available with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), there are 12,611 “enemy properties” estimated to be worth more than Rs 1 lakh crore.

The “enemy properties” are vested with the Custodian of Enemy Property for India (CEPI), an authority created under the Enemy Property Act.

The officials said the MHA had issued a notification in this regard, which stipulated the guidelines for the disposal of “enemy properties”. Under the guidelines, the process for getting “enemy properties” evicted “shall now be initiated with the help of the District Magistrate or Deputy Commissioner concerned before the sale”, they added.

“For enemy properties valued below Rs 1 crore, the custodian will first give a chance to the occupant to buy the property. If the occupant refuses the offer of purchase, the enemy property shall be disposed of in accordance with the procedure specified in the guidelines,” a senior official quoting the notification said.

The CEPI will dispose of “enemy properties” worth between Rs 1 crore and Rs 100 crore through an e-auction or otherwise as may be decided by the Centre and at the rate determined by the Enemy Property Disposal Committee, it added.

The online platform of the public enterprise, Metal Scrap Trade Corporation Limited, shall be used for the e-auction, the officials said, adding that so far, the government has earned more than Rs 3,400 crore from the disposal of “enemy properties”, mostly movable assets such as shares and gold.

None of the 12,611 immovable enemy properties have been monetised so far by the government, they said.

Of the 12,611 properties vested with the CEPI, 12,485 are related to Pakistani nationals and 126 to Chinese citizens.

The highest number of “enemy properties” are in Uttar Pradesh (6,255) followed by West Bengal (4,088), Delhi (659), Goa (295), Maharashtra (208), Telangana (158), Gujarat (151), Tripura (105), Bihar (94), Madhya Pradesh (94), Chhattisgarh (78) and Haryana (71).

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