New Delhi: Government has decided to put
on hold a Bill that would have blocked possession of ancestral
property for citizens whose parents or grandparents migrated
to Pakistan after partition.
A Union Minister, who did not want to be identified,
said today that it has been decided to keep the Enemy Property
(Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2010 "on hold" for the time
being as several MPs had opposed the provisions.
The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 2
by Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Maken.
The Bill was aimed at preventing Indian family
members of those who migrated to Pakistan at the time of
partition from going to court to regain possession of the
property of their forefathers that had been seized as 'enemy
property', thereby vesting it in a custodian.
This was the provision which some of the MPs opposed,
sources said.
The government had promulgated an ordinance on July 2
to make the provisions and the Bill was intended to replace
the Ordinance.
A delegation of prominent Muslim MPs has already met
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday and registered
their protest at the provisions.
As the introduction of the Bill has been put on hold,
the Ordinance issued on July 2 would be allowed to lapse,
official sources said.
-PTI
First Published: Saturday, August 07, 2010, 00:40