Ordinance on enemy property promulgated for third time

The Centre has for the third time promulgated an ordinance to amend a nearly 50-year-old law to guard against claims of succession or transfer of properties left by people who migrated to Pakistan and China after the wars.

‘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-Pakistani War of 1965, the Enemy Property Act was enacted in 1968, which regulates such properties and lists the Custodian’s powers.