Goa Properties : UK nationals seek "Brown" look

The Prime Minister of England Gordon Brown has been approached by many British citizens who have invested in property in Goa to seek his intervention to request the Indian government to resolve the problem of their properties purchased by them being left unregistered.

The petition led by Andrew Davies has been signed by over 125  people on the 10 downing street website addressed to the Prime Minister due to the problems faced by British citizens during purchasing and registering their properties in Goa. The petition reads that " We petition the prime Minster to approach government of India and request it to take cognisance of and correct the unlawful actions of the government of Goa whereby the sub-registrars have been instructed not to order the registration of deeds relating to the sale of immovable property where one of the parties to the transaction is a foreign national. This is in direct contravention of the 1908 Registration Act"

Further the petition seeks the intervention of the Indian government to to ensure that the department of revenue, directorate of enforcement acts judiciously when investigating alleged infringements of FEMA and is not being used to harass foreign nationals who have bought property in Goa.

The petitioners pointed out that the sub-registrars stopped accepting foreigners deeds after August 2006 and informed that over 400 British citizens who had bought property prior to August 2006 are currently being investigated by the directorate with threats of confiscation of the property.

Adding another twist, the petitioners referred to over 50,000 people of Goan origin or birth living in the UK and expressed hope that they are happy and well-treated in fairness and justice and sought merely the same courtesies to be extended to them by the government of Goa