Reports suggest that Union Home Ministry is gearing up to confiscate the properties left behind by the people who embraced Chinese and Pakistan citizenship after the Indo-China War of 1962 and the Indo-Pak War of 1965. Properties worth approximately Rs 1 lakh crore belong to about 12,611 institutions.
The notification issued by the Home Ministry says that the concerned district magistrates and deputy commissioners will take action. The current occupants of the properties worth Rs 1 crore will get a chance to buy them. Those properties will be handled per the rules if they do not need them. The properties, worth Rs 1 crore to 100 crore, will be disposed of by the Custodian of Enemy Property for India (CEPI) of the Union Government directly or through e-auction. Metal Scrap Trade Corporation, the e-auction platform of public enterprises, will execute auctions.
Union Home Ministry has commenced the survey of the ‘enemy properties’ belonging to twenty states and three union territories. The survey is carried out by the Director General of Defence Estates (DGDE). The survey will assess the value and status of the properties. Twelve thousand four hundred eighty-five properties belong to Pakistan citizens, and 126 belong to Chinese citizens. The officials disclosed that the Government had earned Rs 3,400 cr by confiscating the properties, shares and gold of the citizens of the enemy countries.
According to the existing rules, the people who embrace the citizenship of enemy countries cease to be the owners of the property that belonged to them in Bharat, as per documents, before they left for their ‘promised lands’.
