With transactions already being detected on at least 55 properties in Delhi that vest with the Custodian of Enemy Properties in India, the Delhi Government has now decided to issue advertisements in newspapers about all such properties so that unsuspecting citizens do not fall prey to land sharks.
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Friday said that while the Government had banned all transactions on these properties and also placed on record on its registers that they belong to the CEPI, it would also be issuing advertisements in newspapers to prevent further sale of these properties to innocent citizens. “The information on all these properties would also be made available on the Delhi Government website,” she said.
Stating that the Delhi Government would not be going in for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation, Ms. Dikshit said the matter was still being looked into and necessary action would be taken. The case is at present being heard in the Delhi High Court.
A senior government official said the process of “assembly of documentation” with respect to nearly 200 properties belonging to the CEPI was going on and at the present rate it is expected to be completed in about three weeks.
“The CEPI had requested that we ban transactions on these properties and mutate these in the name of the custodian. Also, it has asked that action be taken to safeguard the interests of the Government. Acting on the request we have approached the agencies concerned and taken various steps like stopping the e-stamping of forms pertaining to these properties,” the official said.
The local bodies have been told to look into their records as also property tax papers, mutation documents, building plans to trace back the ownerships of these properties and to establish where they actually stand. Mainly the sub-registrars of Asaf Ali Road and Kashmere Gate are involved in the exercise as almost all these properties are located in Central and North Delhi.
The exercise would bring together all the documents that would later help the CEPI face any legal challenge. Sources said the officials are also probing if there was a tenancy on any of these properties and its status as on date. “Aspects like payment of rent, arrears of rent, maintenance of relationship would also be looked into,” the official added.
Once the exercise is completed, the Delhi Government would wait for CEPI’s next move which could even be resuming possession of these properties.
“Since those wrongfully occupying these properties realise now that they are sitting on deadwood, they may try to pass them off and so the advertisements should be out by next week to protect other citizens,” the official added.
