Wrong to consider property as enemy property and not accept tax, working in Pakistan does not make someone an enemy: High Court

KOCHI: The High Court said that just because an Indian citizen works in Pakistan, he cannot be treated as an enemy or his property labelled as enemy property. Justice Viju Abraham's observation was after allowing the petition filed by P Ummerkoya (74), a resident of Parappanangadi, against the authorities' refusal to collect tax by considering a part of his property as enemy property because his father had worked in Pakistan. The bench also ordered to collect tax on the property which was in Ummerkoya's father's name.

The petitioner's father, P Kunhikoya, was working in a hotel in Karachi, Pakistan in 1953. He returned home and died in 1995 at the age of 93. He was buried in the Parappanangadi church graveyard. Meanwhile, his son Ummerkoya, who was a police officer, bought the property of his relatives. Taxes were also paid for this. Taxes for 2022-23 were not accepted in the village. This is because the Petitioner's property was also involved in the investigation of the Custodian of Enemy Property, a central government institution located in Delhi. Ummerkoya approached the High Court after this.

The proceedings were based on the interpretation that Ummerkoya's father, Kunjikoya, was a Pakistani citizen. Kunjikoya was constantly harassed by the police for going to Pakistan. Taking all this into account, the court held that the petitioner's father does not fall within the definition of an enemy of India. Kunjikoya did not take Pakistani citizenship and died as an Indian citizen. The court held that the land in Kunhikoya's name cannot be considered as enemy's land.