New Delhi: Even as President Pranab Mukherjee expressed displeasure, the Centre on Friday promulgated for the fifth time an ordinance to amend the nearly 50-year old Enemy Property Act, which guards against succession claims or transfer of properties left by the people who migrated to Pakistan and China after wars.
Sources said that Mukherjee was unhappy over the fact that the government had to keep repromulgating the ordinance as Parliament could not function and the Bill could not be passed. Mukherjee had in January last advised the government that ordinances should be brought only under extraordinary circumstances.
“To meet certain exigencies and under compelling circumstances, the framers of the Constitution deemed it necessary to confer limited legislative power upon the Executive by way of promulgation of ordinances when the Legislature is not in session and circumstances justified immediate legislation.
“The framers also deemed it necessary to impose certain restrictions on this extraordinary legislative power by constitutionally mandating replacement of such ordinances within a timeframe by the legislators,” the President had said.
The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill is pending in the Rajya Sabha and it could not be taken up as the entire Winter Session was washed out due to protests over demonetisation.
Mukherjee had made these remarks with regard to ordinances while addressing students and faculty of central universities.
The ordinance was repromulgated on late Thursday night. Issued for the first time on January 7, the Enemy Property Fifth Ordinance, 2016 had earlier been promulgated four times. It was passed by the Lok Sabha on March 9 but was subsequently referred to Select Committee of Rajya Sabha.
The move is being made to amend the nearly five-decade old Enemy Property Act to guard against claims of succession or transfer of properties left by people who migrated to Pakistan and China after wars.
“Enemy property” refers to any property belonging to, held or managed on behalf of an enemy, an enemy subject or an enemy firm. The government has vested these properties in the Custodian of Enemy Property for India.
The Enemy Property Act was first enacted in 1968 after the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965. An ordinance is promulgated again when Parliament is not in session and a bill to replace it is not passed.
