What is Enemy property in India?

March 5, 2023

The Central Government recently launched a National Survey of Enemy Properties, spread across 20 states and three Union territories.

About Enemy property:

The enemy properties are those left behind by the people who took citizenship of Pakistan and China after leaving India during the partition and after 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 2017 amendment to the Act (Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Act, 2017) stated that the successors of those who migrated to Pakistan and China ceased to have a claim over the properties left behind in India.
The amended law stated that enemy property should continue to vest in the Custodian even if the enemy, enemy subject, or enemy firm ceases to be an enemy due to death, extinction, business winding up, or change of nationality or if the legal heir or successor is an Indian citizen or a citizen of a non-aggressive country.
Of the total 9,406 enemy properties in India, 9,280 are left behind by Pakistani nationals and 126 properties by Chinese nationals.
Maximum number of enemy properties is in Uttar Pradesh - 4,991. Bengal has 2,735, and Delhi has 487.