A real-life version of `Khosla ka ghosla’ is being played out with an increasing number of non-resident Indians (NRIs). Complaints of real estate deals going sour, illegal encroachment and unauthorised occupation of properties have flooded the ministry of overseas Indian affairs (MOIA). In fact, with the recent Satyam scam casting its shadow on Maytas Properties, apprehensions amongst overseas investors has deepened. “Property dispute is one of the most frequent complaints by NRIs. They are unable to protect their property due to long absences or lack of awareness of laws,” Vayalar Ravi, overseas Indian affairs minister, said.
The largest number of complaints are from major real estate markets like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Punjab. The nature of the complaints are mainly protection of property that has been forcibly occupied or encroached, dispute relating to division of property or inheritance and cases where investors have been cheated by real estate developers. The minister added that following this flood of complaints, he had written to state governments asking them to appoint nodal officers for civil, judicial and police matters. These nodal officers are independent from NRI cells that are dedicated for issues related to financial or welfare interests of overseas Indians.
The ministry has also planned a session on property disputes at the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas in January 2010. The purpose of the interactive session is three-fold: allowing NRIs to invest safely in realty, putting in place an institutional mechanism at the state-level for property related disputes and providing a channel for credible information relating to property and inheritance laws. The session hopes to bring legal luminaries, NRI associations and state police officials on a common platform to hammer out a solution. “The PBD will offer an opportunity to people to debate and understand the issue,” Didar Singh, MOIA secretary, said.
Among those expected to attend the seminar are former Law Commission chairman Justice A R Lakshmanan, former judge of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe Justice A M Ebrahim, Gujarat National Law University vice-chancellor Prof Bimal N Patel, senior police officials from states, real estate developers like K P Singh of DLF Limited, CII’s national committee on real estate and housing chairman Harshvardhan Neotia, lawyers who specialise on property laws for NRIs and NRI association representatives.
