A gift from Pakistan: MHA to take charge of unclaimed assets from Partition

NEW DELHI: Over 50 years after the contents of lockers and safe deposits of people who migrated from Pakistan to India at the time of Partition were brought to India in sealed boxes in 1961, the Ministry of Home Affairs has decided to take over all the unclaimed property.

The decision comes after prolonged consultations between ministries and the completion of a consolidated inventory of the contents in the boxes, amid the remote possibility of any more claimants.

“The said property shall now be vested in the Government of India for all intents and purposes. Therefore, the Central Government is now competent to dispose of the contents in these boxes in such manner as it deems fit,” the home ministry said in a notification dated February 20, 2015, which EThas accessed.

In 1947, at the time of Independence, people had migrated to India from Pakistan, leaving behind valuables in their bank lockers, and similarly, many Muslims went over to Pakistan, with their valuables locked up in banks here. It was said to be the largest mass migration in history, with an estimated 10 million people crossing the borders.

Both countries signed an agreement in 1950 aimed at returning contents of lockers to their rightful owners, after which valuables and other articles left behind in Pakistan were brought to India in sealed packets in 1961 and kept in the custody of the Reserve Bank of India in New Delhi.

A “major portion” of the valuables was restored to their original owners, according to the ministry notification. Some of the contents remained unclaimed, while the remainder could not be returned because adequate documentary or satisfactory proof of ownership was not submitted.

In 1971, a court had asked the Centre to take over and auction the unclaimed property. The government consulted the ministry of law, which in 1978 advised the Centre to issue public notices to invite claimants. Notices were issued twice — in 1979 and 1991. “All applications received to these public notices were again examined and no lockers could be released for want of rightful claimants,” the home ministry said.

After the ministry of law, the ministry of external affairs was also approached for political clearance, which was obtained. In 1990, ANZ Grindlays Bank and State Bank of India said they had some lockers and articles with them and asked the ministry to take the items. It was subsequently decided to prepare an inventory of the unclaimed contents before taking a decision, the home ministry said. “A consolidated inventory of the boxes was prepared by constituting a committee comprising officers from the ministry, RBI and local executive magistrate.

The process of preparing the inventory was completed in January 2015,” the notification said. “It is highly improbable there are any more claimants for contents of these boxes and as such all the contents stand unclaimed. Through the years, the central government has been acting as a constructive trustee of the contents. It appears to be just and reasonable to declare the property as ‘Unclaimed Property’ in terms of the general principles of escheatment,” the notification said.