Rajya Sabha passes bill to amend Enemy Property Act

[Hindustani78]

The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016, which amends the Enemy Property Act, 1968, was passed by voice vote.

Rajya Sabha (Photo: PTI)
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/nati...-passes-bill-to-amend-enemy-property-act.html

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha today passed a Bill to amend a 49-year-old law to guard against claims of succession or transfer of properties left by people who migrated to Pakistan and China, amid a walkout by the entire Opposition.

The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016, which amends the Enemy Property Act, 1968, was passed by voice vote in the Rajya Sabha despite the opposition demanding deferring of the debate on the draft legislation for a threadbare deliberation next week.

The measure was passed by the Lok Sabha in March last year. After this, the Rajya Sabha had sent it to a select committee, following whose recommendations, the government had moved a number of amendments to it.

After the amended bill was passed by a voice vote by the Rajya Sabha today, it was returned to the Lok Sabha for final passage just before it was adjourned for the day.

Earlier when the bill was taken up in the Upper House for consideration and passage, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said "many senior members including the Leader of Opposition are not present in the House for a variety of reasons. Therefore the bill should be taken up for discussion and passage on the next working day."

Ramesh's views were echoed by other members including Javed Ali Khan (SP) and Sukhendu Shekhar Roy (AITC) who also sought taking up the bill for discussion next week.

However, the government decided to take up the bill for discussion today itself and later got it passed by a voice vote after the entire opposition, angered over the government's insistence, walked out of the House.

Explaining the rationale for urgency to get the bill passed, Finance Minister and Leader of the House Arun Jaitely said the ordinance effecting the amendments in the Act would lapse on March 14, 2017 and this was a security issue also.

Elaborating on the measure, he said it was a principle that government should not allow commercial interests or properties of an enemy country or its citizens.

Jaitley said the right of the enemy property should vest in the Government of India and not in the heirs of the citizens of the enemy countries.

Despite repeated requests by opposition members, the government took up the bill, which was passed after a brief discussion in the absence of any opposition member.

The government was so determined to pass the bill today that over half dozen ministers were present in the House to ensure its smooth sail.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh Minister, who was supposed to reply to the debate on the bill, did not say much observing that the Leader of the House has already explained about it in detail and there was no need for his explanation.

 

[Tangent123]

With congress loosing majority at Rajya Sabha, we would see more productivity of parliament.

 

[GHOSTS]

I wish n hope the opposition walks out everytime a new bill is presented in the upper house by the government. Useless opposition is sitting there to create hurdles only

 

[Hindustani78]

http://zeenews.india.com/india/rajya-sabha-passes-enemy-property-bill_1985368.html

New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha on Friday passed by a voice vote the Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016, after all opposition members present in the upper house walked out in protest one after the other.

The Lok Sabha passed the bill in March last year.

The bill amends the Enemy Property Act, 1968, to vest all rights, titles and interests over enemy property in the custodian and declares transfer of property by the enemy as void.

This applies retrospectively to all transfers that have occurred after the Act was passed.

One of the controversial provisions of the bill is that it amends the definition of "enemy" and "enemy subject" to include the legal heir(s) or successor(s) of the enemy, even if the latter is a citizen of India or a non-enemy country.

According to the new bill, the law of succession will not apply to the legal heir(s) or successor(s) of the enemy.


The bill also prohibits civil courts and other authorities from entertaining disputes related to enemy property.


When the bill was taken up, the opposition benches were virtually vacant as attendance is usually thin on Fridays. Besides, it being the weekend before Holi, many members might have left for their homes.

Congress member Jairam Ramesh pointed this out and asked the government to take up the bill on the next working day.

Similar protests were lodged by Congress member Rajiv Shukla, Trinamool Congress` Sukhendu Sekhar Roy and Samajwadi Party`s Javed Ali Khan.

However, the government ignored the opposition`s request and went ahead to take up and pass the bill.

The treasury benches, on the other hand, were sufficiently bolstered by the presence of senior Ministers Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, Ananth Kumar, Prakash Javadekar and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

As for opposition`s question as to the urgency to take up the Bill on Friday, Finance Minister and Leader of the House Arun Jaitley said that the Enemy Property Ordinance promulgated by the President is going to lapse on March 14.

Speaking on the bill, Jailtey said: The larger principle behind the enemy property law, whether it is the 1968 Act or the present bill, is that any country with which India has gone to war, its citizens cannot be allowed to hold property in India."


"If the house wants to negate this principle, let the house say so," he added.


Earleir, Jaitley cited the example of Raja of Mahmudabad, who left India in 1947, acquired nationality of Pakistan, but later his son and wife came to India and became Indian citizens.


The family members of the erstwhile ruler sought the possession of property left behind by him and the Supreme Court ruled in their favour.


"The Raja of Mahmudabad had lost the title to his property by virtue of the 1965 law and certainly by virtue of the 1968 Act. He died in 1973. So how could his heirs claim his property which he did not own in 1973?" Jaitley said.


First Published: Friday, March 10, 2017 - 22:51

 

[Hindustani78]

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/parliament-passes-enemy-property-bill-4568723/

Successors of those who migrated to Pakistan and China during partition will have no claim over the properties left behind in India, with Parliament on Tuesday passing a bill to amend a 49-year-old law. The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016, which amends the Enemy Property Act, 1968, was passed by voice vote in the Lok Sabha, incorporating the amendments made by the Rajya Sabha last week.

The Lok Sabha had passed the bill earlier but certain amendments were introduced to it in the Rajya Sabha, on the recommendations of a Select Committee. Those amendments had to be approved by the Lower House, which was done on Tuesday. RSP member N K Premachandran had moved a statutory amendment seeking to introduce clarity with regard to those properties which had already been acquired by the heirs of the ‘enemy’ property owners, a reference to nationals of Pakistan and China.

According to the bill, “Enemy property” refers to any property belonging to, held or managed on behalf of an enemy, an enemy subject or an enemy firm. 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 purpose of bill is to clarify the 1968 Act. Inheritance law will not be applicable on Enemy Property… This will put an end to the long pending issue which should have ideally happened in 2010 when the Bill was introduced,” Home Minister Rajnath Singh said while replying to a brief debate on the bill. The government brought the amendment bill 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. The matter is before the Supreme Court.

Five ordinances were promulgated on the bill. The last one is due to expire on Tuesday. Justifying the move to amend the Act, Singh rejected the contention of some MPs that it was against the principle of natural justice and amounted to human rights violations. “I wonder how it is against the principle of natural justice. Pakistan has seized the properties of Indian citizens… It will be natural justice if their property (of those who migrated to Pakistan) is not returned,” he said.

The Minister assured the House that there will be no human rights violations following the amendments as the rights if Indian citizens are not being taken away. “The law only applies on heirs of enemy property… The tenants of those property will be governed by the Tenancy Act,” he said.