DUBAI (TIP): Greedy relatives and shady agents are unlawfully grabbing the properties of Indian expatriates living in Dubai. Caught in this miserable scenario, many Indian expatriates in Dubai are seemingly fighting the unending legal battles back home. According to Gulf News, and it is not easy to pay hassle-free frequent visits to India, and go through the notoriously lengthy legal process in the country. Some cannot even put on combat gear as the enemy, in many cases, is there own parents or siblings. According to lawyers, the misuse of power of attorney is rampant across India.

Invariably, NRI owners top the list of victims. Chokshy, a seasoned lawyer with over 30 years of experience in Gujarat civil courts, said he has seen many NRIs go through bitter experiences where their parents or siblings have grabbed their property. According to the report, the illegal grabbing, occupation or confiscation of properties have long been a pressing issue for Indians residing out of the country, so much so that a US-based Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) has demanded the establishment of fast-track courts for speedy disposal of their property disputes.

The organization said that many USbased NRIs owning houses and land in Kolkata, New Delhi, Punjab and Kerala have been struggling for years to reclaim properties usurped by friends, families or caretakers. The increasing number of illegal and forceful land grabbing cases was also a topic of concern at the recently concluded 11th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) conducted by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs between January 7 and 9 in Kochi, Kerala. According to lawyers in India and the UAE, expatriates are particularly vulnerable to fraudulent elements back home because of time constraints and lack of legal support in fighting their cases.

NRIs are at a great disadvantage as they reside far away from their home country and civil cases in India can take 15-20 years or even more due to an overloaded judicial system. So alarming is the situation that an army of ‘property managers’ have mushroomed in big cities in India like Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Ahmedabad, Mangalore, Chennai and Kochi to manage the assets of NRIs, the report added.