Saif Ali Khan’s Bhopal property case: What is ‘Enemy property’?

The Enemy Property Act of 1968 addresses the assets left by individuals, like Saif Ali Khan’s family, who relocated from India to nations classified as ‘enemy’ countries.

Saif Ali Khan Enemy Property Case

The uncertainty over filing an appeal against an order from the Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property, an authority under the Union home ministry, continues to dispute the fate of properties worth ₹15,000 crore owned by Bhopal’s erstwhile rulers and inherited by actor Saif Ali Khan and his family.

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Madhya Pradesh High Court Directs Saif Ali Khan to Challenge ‘Enemy Property’ Order

The Madhya Pradesh High Court asked actor Saif Ali Khan to approach the authority regarding a Centre order that declared the Pataudi family’s historical properties as “enemy property.” News agency PTI reported that it remains unclear whether Saif Ali Khan has filed an appeal with the Mumbai-based Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property.

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The authority’s order dated February 24, 2015, wherein the Custodian of Enemy Property for India termed the Bhopal Nawab’s property as ‘enemy property’ was challenged by Saif and his mother, noted actress Sharmila Tagore (Pataudi). The basis for the ruling was that Nawab Muhammad Hamidullah Khan’s eldest daughter Abida Sultan Begum had migrated to Pakistan after the Partition. Therefore, all such properties that she was supposed to succeed became enemy properties.

What is enemy property

The Enemy Property Act, 1968, is an “act to provide for the continued vesting of enemy property in the Custodian of Enemy Property for India under the Defence of India Rules, 1962, and the Defence of India Rules, 1971, and for matters connected therewith.” The act defines enemy property as “property that currently belongs to, is held by, or managed on behalf of an enemy, an enemy subject, or an enemy firm.”

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