New Delhi: Yesterday on 9th March, the Amending Bill- i.e. The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016 to amend the provisions of the Forty- Eight years older- Enemy Property Act of 1968 has been cleared from the Lok Sabha.
Now the Bill is passed by the Voice vote in the Lok Sabha amid the assertion from the Government that the measure should not be seen from the prism of religion or caste. However, it was also seen that the Opposition on this Bill, has demanded it to be sent to the Standing Committee of Parliament, but such demand was turned down.
Moreover, the Home Minister- Rajnath Singh in his reply to debate on the Bill, stated that the Bill does not only relate to Pakistan alone, but is also relating to the China and the people who left India after 1962 Sino- India War. Moreover, such people’s property also come under the ambit of this Bill. It was seen that there was migration of the people from India to Pakistan under the Defence of India Rules framed under the Defence of India Act, due to Indo- Pak war of 1965. There was take over of the properties and companies of the people who had taken Pakistani nationality, in the wake of such migration.
Such properties were termed enemy properties and they were vested by the Central Govt. in the Custodial of Enemy Property for India. Now, as per amendments which are sought with the present Amending Bill, the said enemy property once is vested in the Custodian should be continue to be vested in him as enemy property irrespective of whether the enemy, enemy subject or enemy firm has ceased to be an enemy by reasons like death, etc.
Opposing the measures- The Lok Sabh MP from Congress- Shashi Tharoor said that the move sought with this Bill is “dangerous” and demanded referral of this Bill to the Standing Committee. Moreover, RSP’s N. K. Premachandran, CPM’s P. Karunakaran and Congress’s Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and also TMC’s Sultan Ahmed also sought the referral of this Bill to the Standing Committee.