A new ordinance on enemy property, to replace the one that lapsed Sunday (September 5) midnight, has blocked the power of courts to decide the owner of assets of those who moved to Pakistan and made the government the sole arbitrator. The new ordinance states: “No court shall have jurisdiction to order divestment from the Custodian of enemy property vested in him under this Act or direct the central government to divest such property from the Custodian.” The courts’ purview would be limited to only “adjudicate whether the property… is an enemy property or not”. Home Minister Chidambaram has approved a new Section 18 that allows divestment of property from the Custodian – which the Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill did not – to the owner or lawful heir provided the claimant furnishes a “succession certificate or a declaration” from a competent court. Even in these cases, the claimant will have to furnish evidence within 120 days of the new ordinance that he is a citizen of India by birth or lawful heir in accordance with the Law of Succession.
ENEMY PROPERTY: ONLY GOVT, NOT COURTS, CAN DECIDE
A new ordinance on enemy property, to replace the one that lapsed Sunday (September 5) midnight, has blocked the power of courts to decide the owner of assets of those who moved to Pakistan and made the government the sole arbitrator.
