BAGHPAT: India has auctioned a property in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh, that was formerly owned by relatives of ex-Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf, for Rs 1.38 crore.
“This enemy property, Plot no. 1078, Village Kotana Bangar, Tehsil Baraut, District Baghpat is directed for sale through e-auction,” a notice from the Ministry of Home Affairs released before auction reads.
The land, spanning 13 bighas, was sold through an online bidding process. The successful bidders were three local farmers from Baghpat.
The property, which had been registered under Musharraf’s relatives’ names, will now be transferred to its new owners, thereby removing any association with Musharraf’s family from the local land records.
Nuru Mian, a resident of Kotana village in Baghpat’s Baraut tehsil and a relative of Musharraf, had previously owned the land. Mian moved to Pakistan in 1965, and the land was declared “enemy property” by the Indian government in 2010.
The auction, managed by the Enemy Property Custodian Office, ran online from 11 am to 9 pm. The land, divided into eight plots or Khasra numbers, will now be owned by the new buyers, including local resident Pankaj Kumar, who acquired approximately 4 bighas. Originally from Baghpat, Musharraf’s family had moved to Delhi in 1943 and then to Pakistan in 1947.
The Enemy Property Act of 1968 was established following the 1965 India-Pakistan War to regulate such properties and define the custodian’s powers. As of April 2024, there are approximately 12,611 properties categorized as ‘enemy property’ in India, with an estimated total value exceeding Rs 1 lakh crore.
