New Delhi: The government is likely to
bring an amendment in a bill which is expected to clear the
air on the rights of ancestral property for citizens whose
parents or grandparents migrated to Pakistan after Partition.
The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill,
2010, will be tabled in Parliament after further modification
within the ongoing monsoon session.
"Further modification of the bill will be done. The
draft is being prepared," Minority Affairs Minister Salman
Khurshid told reporters after meeting Home Minister P
Chidambaram.
Last week, the government decided to put on hold the
proposed bill 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.
"We want court to decision on the who will inherit the
enemy property and who should be given succession
certificate," Khurshid, accompanied by Union ministers Farooq
Abdullah and E Ahamed and MP Sultan Ahmed, said.
Asked whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, agreed to
their proposal, Khurshid said, "We are part of the prime
minister's team and we work under his guidance."
With further modification, the bill is expected to go
to the Union Cabinet next week for approval before being
placed in Parliament.
"The government will take care of the interests of the
affected people," Khurshid said.
PTI
First Published: Friday, August 13, 2010, 21:17