India, Jan. 28 -- The Maharashtra government has decided to waive stamp duty registration charges on the sale and purchase of so-called "enemy properties" in a move aimed at boosting participation in their auction. The decision was taken at a state cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Enemy properties are assets belonging to people who migrated to countries that India considers hostile, mainly Pakistan and China, after conflicts with those nations. Following the 1965 India-Pakistan war, the Indian parliament enacted the Enemy Property Act, 1968, under which such properties were vested in the Custodian of Enemy Property for India (CEPI), an authority under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The legislation prevents enemy nationals and their heirs from ...