MUMBAI, May 9 -- A family whose three apartments in upscale Bandra were classified as "enemy property" by the central government has secured interim relief from the Bombay high court, which stayed the order last month much to the petitioners' relief. The Lakhwani family migrated from Pakistan to India in 1971 after facing persecution in the aftermath of the Indo-Pak wars. Petitioner Sachanand Lakhwani's family had stayed back in Pakistan at the time of Partition, as it owned several properties there. However, according to the family, atrocities committed against Hindus by the Pakistani government and sections of Pakistani Muslims after the 1965 and 1971 wars forced them to flee to India. After settling in Mumbai, Lakhwani purchased three flats in a building called Jolly High-Rise CHS at Pali Mala in Bandra. The family later applied for Indian citizenship and was granted it in the 1970s after completing the due legal process. Five decades later, the central government, on January 11, 2022, suddenly issued the first impugned notice to the Lakhwanis and subsequently initiated proceedings under the Enemy Property Act, 1968, claiming that the flats qualified as enemy property on the ground that Lakhwani and his family were Pakistani citizens at the time the properties were agreed to be purchased. In 2023 and 2024, the Custodian of Enemy Property for India (CEPI), functioning under the union home ministry, allegedly initiated coercive steps and directed the housing society to transfer the flats to CEPI. The authorities also asked the family to execute a leave-and-license agreement with the government and continue occupying the premises only as licensees or vacate the flats. The family subsequently challenged the actions before the Bombay high court. Advocate Prerak Choudhary, appearing for the family, said it was inconceivable how a property owned by a person who acquired Indian citizenship could be treated as enemy property. "As per Section 2(b) of the Enemy Property Act, 1968, the definition of 'enemy' does not include citizens of India," he said. "The Act was intended to apply to properties of those Indians who migrated to an enemy country or to enemy property." Sonu Lakhwani, the 51-year-old son of Sachanand Lakhwani, who stays in one of the three flats in Jolly High-Rise CHS, said he was born and brought up there. "My father is 77 years old," he said. "During the 1971 emergency in Pakistan, he shifted with his whole family to India and surrendered his Pakistani nationality. That was 55 years ago, but we are being badgered by the government which has termed our houses 'enemy property'. However, we have a good legal team and we are grateful to the court for granting a stay." On April 21, 2026, the court granted interim relief by permitting Lakhwani to file an application under Section 18 of the Enemy Property Act, seeking removal of the "enemy property" classification. The court directed the government custodian to decide on the application and restrained the authorities from taking coercive action against the family until then. "The property was bought by my clients with their own funds," said Prerak Choudhary. It is only fair and equitable that they are allowed to enjoy their property, as they are patriotic, nationalistic Indians who have validly acquired Indian citizenship."...