NEW DELHI, July 19: A total 12,611 establishments, called enemy properties, were left behind by people who have taken citizenship of Pakistan and China, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Misha said out of the 12,611 properties, 12,485 were related to Pakistani nationals and 126 to Chinese citizens.
Enemy properties are those left behind by the people who took citizenship of Pakistan and China after leaving India during the partition and after the 1962 war.
The enemy properties are vested with the Custodian of Enemy Property for India (CEPI), an authority created under the Enemy Property Act 1968.
The highest number of enemy properties were found in Uttar Pradesh (6,255 properties), followed by West Bengal (4,088 properties), Delhi (659), Goa (295), Maharashtra (208), Telangana (158), Gujarat (151), Tripura (105), Bihar (94), Madhya Pradesh (94), Chhattisgarh (78) and Haryana (71).
There are 71 enemy properties in Kerala, 69 in Uttarakhand, 67 in Tamil Nadu, 57 in Meghalaya, 29 in Assam, 24 in Karnataka, 22 in Rajasthan, 10 in Jharkhand, four in Daman and Diu, and one each in Andhra Pradesh and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
According to law, enemy property refers to any property belonging to, held or managed on behalf of an enemy, an enemy subject or an enemy firm.
So far, movable properties worth about Rs 2,700 crore have been disposed of and the amount has been deposited in the Consolidated Fund of India.
However, no immovable enemy property has been sold so far.
The minister said following complaints of certain irregularities with regards to the enemy properties, the government has initiated CBI and departmental inquiry against officials of the Uttar Pradesh Government, CEPI, home ministry and other private individuals. (PTI)
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