The BJP and the Congress may have found common ground on the nuclear liability bill but the stage is set for a showdown over the Enemy Property (Amendment & Validation) Bill.
Some in the BJP are even drawing a parallel with the Shah Bano case when the then Rajiv Gandhi government rushed to enact the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, overturning a Supreme Court judgment on alimony to divorced Muslim women.
Home Minister P Chidambaram met BJP leaders L K Advani and Arun Jaitley today to reach a consensus on proposed changes in the Bill. One amendment is meant to allow a legal heir to inherit ?enemy property? ? the term used to describe properties left behind by people who migrated to Pakistan ? provided the heir is certified bona fide.
Sources said the BJP leadership is of the view that it cannot accept this amendment since it?s aimed at favouring an individual.
For, it confirms the 2005 Supreme Court verdict ordering the return of ?enemy property? to Suleiman Mian, the present Raja Mohammed Amir Mohammed Khan, the heir of the Raja of Mahmudabad.
After the death of his father ? who went to Pakistan soon after Partition, then moved to London and died in 1974 ? Suleiman Mian launched a legal battle to get back a sprawling property empire estimated at hundreds of crores that includes the Butler Hall in Lucknow, prime properties in Hazratganj, the Metropole Hotel in Nainital, several official bungalows in Sitapur and vast tracts of agricultural and urban land in Lakhimpur and Barabanki.
Applauding the SC judgment, Suleiman Mian had then said: ?I petitioned everyone, saying my mother and I are Indians, not enemies. I wanted the stigma of enemy of state on my family to be removed and I am happy that I have won this battle?.
The judgment led to a slew of bizarre writ petitions in various high courts by descendants of persons who had migrated to Pakistan, seeking restoration of properties which had been seized as enemy properties across the country. For example, in the Allahabad High Court, a person claimed nearly one-third of Agra ? including the Taj Mahal ? by furnishing documents that traced his lineage.
The High Court dismissed the case on the ground that the properties were over 300 years old. Incidentally, the claimant has now moved the Supreme Court.
The Centre then promulgated an ordinance on July 2 which nullified the effect of the Supreme Court judgment. This ordinance vested the ?enemy property? with the Custodian and granted him absolute right over them till the Centre divested him of those rights.
Following this ordinance, the Custodian of Enemy Properties, based in Mumbai, issued orders for repossession of the assets which had been restored to Suleiman Mian after the SC judgment. This caused a furore in a section of Shia Muslims of Lucknow who alleged that Congress-led UPA government was denying the ?Raja? his due.
Salman Khursheed, Union Minister of State for Company Affairs, who was Suleiman Mian?s advocate in the Supreme Court, led a delegation of Muslim MPs to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. And claimed that the ordinance would harm minority rights as many claimants are Muslims.
The government then decided to withhold the Bill that had been drafted to replace the ordinance. And is now said to have decided to bring certain changes to protect Suleiman?s properties.
Despite repeated attempts, Suleiman Mian was not available for comment. Ram Jethmalani, representing some of the tenants in Suleiman?s properties, said: ?The government?s lapse will be a gift of Rs 10,000 crore worth of property to the Raja. It is a betrayal of the people and a theft of the people?s property.?
?We are satisfied with the ordinance. The ordinance should not be replaced with the Bill being proposed,? a top BJP leader told The Indian Express.
According to a Cabinet note, there are 949 immovable properties ? residential and commercial buildings, urban and agricultural land ? presently vested with the Custodian of Enemy Properties.
Another 1,237 properties are being surveyed for the purposes of classification as ?enemy property.? Moreover, the value of movable assets, classified as ?enemy properties? is estimated at about Rs 1,300 crore as of 2009.