The

Custodian of Enemy Property The Custodian of Enemy Property is an institution that handles property claims created by war. In wartime, civilian property may be left behind or taken by the occupying state. In ancient times, such property was considered war loot, and the le ...

for India is an Indian government department that is empowered to appropriate property under the

Enemy Property Act, 1968 The Enemy Property Act, 1968 is an Act of the Parliament of India, which enables and regulates the appropriation of property in India owned by Pakistani nationals. The act was passed following the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. Ownership is passed ...

in India owned by

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

i nationals. After the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 or the Second Kashmir War was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between Pakistan and India. The conflict began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was d ...

, the Enemy Property Act was promulgated in 1968. The act authorised the Central

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

to appoint a custodian for enemy property for India and one or more deputy/assistant custodians as assistances. There is also a provision which validates the appointments made under the Defence of India Rules 1962 and 1971. The Pakistani nationals in question were citizens of undivided India before the Partition of India in 1947 took place, and left India to settle down in Pakistan. Under the notification issued on 10 September and 11 September 1965, the central government vested the following property in India belonging to, held by, or managed on behalf of Pakistani nationals; entrusting the property and its appurtenances in the hands of the custodian with immediate effect. This includes all immovable property, all lockers and

safe deposit A safe deposit box, also known as a safety deposit box, is an individually secured container, usually held within a larger safe or bank vault. Safe deposit boxes are generally located in banks, post offices or other institutions. Safe deposi ...

s; and all negotiable instruments such as promissory notes, shares, debentures and other commerce. Citizens of India are banned from entering any transactions by way of granting development rights, selling, transferring or mortgaging more than a third of a property in India declared as "enemy" property. The office of the custodian are located in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

with a branch offices in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

and

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

. The current Custodian of enemy property for India (CEPI) is Mr. Saurav Ray (IDES, 1994 batch). The post of CEPI was upgraded to Joint Secretary level and he joined on 8 August 2020.

Income

The fees equal two percent on the gross income from the properties vested in the custodian. The income received by way of rent, interest etc. on securities is invested in the

Reserve Bank of India The Reserve Bank of India, chiefly known as RBI, is India's central bank and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is responsible for ...

. The maturity for the year 2004-2005 is expected to touch 135 crores. A balance of 0.22 crores is in the personal ledger account of the custodian maintained by the

Central Bank of India Central Bank of India (CBI) is an Indian public sector bank based in Mumbai. Despite its name, it is not the central bank of India; The Indian central bank is the Reserve Bank of India. History The Central Bank of India was established on ...

. A sum of 51 lakhs (5.1 million) is kept in the fixed deposit in the name of Habib Bank.

Property disposal

In December 2017, India's Minister of Home Affairs

Rajnath Singh Rajnath Singh (; born 10 July 1951) is an Indian politician serving as the Defence Minister of India. He is currently the Deputy Leader of the House Lok Sabha. He is the former President of Bharatiya Janata Party. He has previously served as ...

granted the approval as per the amended "Enemy Property Act, 2017" to dispose of the properties free from the legal hurdles. 6,229 properties vested with the custodian have been already surveyed, remaining 2,999 vested with the custodian will be surveyed soon. There are 5,863 more properties in the process of vesting with the custodian will also be surveyed. Pakistan has already disposed of previously Indian-owned properties in Pakistan, according to

, the then

Home Minister of India The Minister of Home Affairs (or simply, the Home Minister, short-form HM) is the head of the Ministry of Home Affairs (India), Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India. One of the senior-most officers in the Cabinet of India, Union ...

.Govt plans to dispose off 'enemy' properties soon
Economic Times, 19 Dec 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Custodian For Enemy Property For India Government agencies of India Indian nationality law Partition of India Economic warfare India–Pakistan relations

Income

Property disposal

See also

References