Vested Property Return Act

When the Vested Property Return (Amendment) Act was passed in 2011 it came as a relief for the minority community of the county. They saw in it the prospect of getting back their properties through legal channels. Unfortunately, six years into enactment of the Act, there are still complications in its implementation, and legal owners have to face a lot of hassles in reclaiming their assets.

A study conducted in seven districts by Human Development Research Centre (HDRC) reveals that each legal owner had to spend about Tk. 2.27 lakh for the reclamation process. It also takes an unnecessarily long time to complete the handover. This interruption is caused by both pre-court parties including local administration and land offices and in-court parties including lawyers, public prosecutors and judges. The study also finds that a low number of judges and lack of priority on the cases under the Act delay the whole process. Rights activists also allege that illegal occupiers and land grabbers often manipulate the whole process in collusion with government officials.

The large number of unsettled cases, undue delays in transferring the property and high cost clearly indicates to the poor implementation of the Act. Despite the PM's repeated direction for quick disposal of the cases, the situation has hardly improved. The land ministry should look into this issue seriously and take immediate action to remove all the barriers to the proper implementation of the Act and thus expedite the return of 'vested properties' to their rightful owners.