March 26, 2008 NRIs often Tormented,
Cheated
Out of Their Properties By Kul
Bhushan
Non-resident Indians' property experiences in India can put any
horror film to shame. An NRI couple from the US came to Mumbai on
vacation and when they visited their ancestral farm, the illegal
occupiers refused to vacate the land. The NRI was brutally beaten
and his wife molested and hounded out of their property grabbed by
neighbors.
Although the numbers do not reveal the full harassment, no less than
3,000 NRIs are caught in land disputes in Punjab. US-based NRIs
owning properties in Kolkata, New Delhi, Chandigarh and Kerala have
been struggling fruitlessly for over two decades to recover their
properties without any hope so far.
NRIs from every state in India residing in different countries can
recount their horrendous tales of their ancestral property or their
own holdings having been illegally grabbed, occupied and confiscated
by their relatives, friends or agents.
Estate developers and agents have duped NRIs because of insufficient
inspection of the relevant property documents. Suppressed
encumbrances and defective ownership titles have led to
complications, even in the case of resident buyers.
Even deeds of registration showing false titles have been found
forged because proper searches of the titleship records of the
preceding 30-40 years, kept in the offices of the registration
department, are not commissioned by the buyers through their
lawyers, according to M.M. Maheshweri, co-chairman of the Global
Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) Task Force.
NRIs are particularly vulnerable to such malpractices, because of
the lack of time, knowledge and proper legal support at their
disposal. Can we think of formulating comprehensive central
guidelines to help them take all necessary steps before finalizing
their property deals?
This would perhaps avert future hazards, created not by the illegal
grabbers of NRI property, but by the fraudulent property dealers,
who exploit the NRIs' unsuspecting credulousness.
Their unceasing harassment and seemingly endless struggle to
extricate their fraudulently grabbed property, from the clutches of
local tormentors, through the cobwebs of law courts, surrounded by a
maze of legal labyrinths, packaged as the 'due process of the Indian
judicial system' turns them away from India.
This saga of our unrelieved pain leaves us befuddled, dismayed and
distressed, added Maheshweri.
Enough is enough and so in January GOPIO held a special panel during
its annual conference in New Delhi. Some legal experts were invited
to give their advice and opinions and try to find workable
solutions. The aim was to devise a way out, to resolve property
issues of NRIs within the parameters of the Indian legal system.
Indian law does not provide ready recourse to an NRI; so a special
judicial dispensation for NRI property problems is desperately
needed. A number of special courts and tribunals have been set up to
deal with specialized cases, so why not a fast track court or
tribunal for NRIs to resolve their property disputes?
NRIs lose out because the Indian legal system takes years, if not
decades, to pronounce judgments on cases and the system is
overloaded with millions of pending cases that would take decades to
clear.
After the highly emotional session, during which a number of NRIs
recalled their horror stories with dismay, a strong resolution was
passed to urge the Indian government to look into this matter. A
large number of NRIs wrote back to GOPIO with their property woes
after this resolution was published in its newsletter last month.
The chairman of this task force, Subhash Sharma of Southern Illinois
University, referred some of them to lawyers in New Delhi. Last
week, the task force sent a strong letter to the Indian law minister
to look into this matter with a copy to the minister for overseas
Indian affairs, urging them to act on the GOPIO resolution quickly
due to the urgency of the problem.
Whether it is a hereditary, residential or commercial property, one
of the main reasons for these scams is that NRIs are at a great
disadvantage because they cannot contest court cases in India. A
civil case takes 15-20 years and for a criminal case the plaintiff
needs to be present on every court date in India, which is
impossible for any NRI. So they suffer silently.
An NRI was getting legal notices for over two years to pay the dues
of the cooperative society for his prime flat on Juhu Beach, Mumbai,
as his tenant refused to pay the dues or the rent.
When served with a final notice, he travelled to Mumbai to sort out
the matter. The tenant flatly refused to vacate, pay rent or the
dues. He offered to buy the flat at one tenth of the market price.
Here was an offer the NRI could not refuse because unless he sold
the flat, he would face a court case. It was a tough decision.
(Kul Bhushan previously worked abroad as a newspaper editor and has
travelled to over 55 countries. He lives in New Delhi and can be
contacted at kulbhushan2040@gmail.com)
Boloji.com is owned and managed by Boloji Media Inc Privacy Policy |
Disclaimer
No part of this Internet site may
be reproduced without prior written permission of the copyright holder.
