Procedure to file a complaint against Benami property transaction

121 votes

Benami transaction is the one where a person purchases a property in the name of another person. For example, if you buy a land in the name of your father or mother, then it is a benami transaction as you have paid the price of the land but the owner is your father or mother as the case may be.

There are certain factors which need to be considered to determine a benami property -

1. the source from which the purchase money came;

2. the nature and possession of the property, after the purchase;

3. motive/idea behind the transaction;

4. the position of the parties and the relationship between the claimant and the alleged/supposed benamidar;

5. the custody of the title-deeds after the sale; and

6. the conduct of the parties concerned in dealing with the property after the sale.

According to the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016, the complaint against the Benami transaction has to be filed to the Initiating Officer (IO) who can be Assistant Commissioner or a Deputy Commissioner as defined in the Income-tax Act, 1961.

You can produce evidence to the Initiating Officer in the form of documents or any other material that you can arrange in respect of the benami transaction. If the Officer has sufficient reason to believe that any person is a Benamidar in respect of a property, he may issue a notice to the concerned person asking him to answer within the specified time that why his property should not be considered as benami property.

The IO may also temporarily attach/take the property of the alleged/supposed Benamidar if he believes that it is necessary to do so for a period of 90 days from the date of the notice. Within that period, it is up to the IO to either cancel or confirm the temporary attachment. 

If he confirms the attachment then the matter goes to the Adjudicating Authority (AA) for its decision and the attachment continues until a final disposal of the case. 

LawRato LawRato

731 votes

Benami properties are not easy to identify as they are usually entered into between relatives, friends, people having a fiduciary relationship, between landlord and tenant, employer and employee or other relationships where there exists an obligation to protect or a fear of some loss.

This limits the scope of litigation regarding benami transactions.

Some non-exhaustive circumstances to be considered while identifying whether a transaction is benami or not. These are:

1. The sources where the money to pay the consideration came from,

2. The nature of possession of the property after the purchase is complete,

3. If there exist any motive to give the transaction a ‘benami colour’, such motive,

4. The relationship between the claimant and the alleged benamidar and the position of the parties,

5. The custody of the title-deeds after the sale and

6. The conduct of the parties concerned in dealing with the property after the sale.

The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988

The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016
[Amendments] – {with effect from 01-11-2016}

The Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988

The Prohibition of Benami Property Transaction Rules, 2016

The following shall be the authorities for the purposes of this Act,
namely:—

(a) the Initiating Officer;
an Assistant Commissioner
or a Deputy Commissioner of the Income Tax Department
(b) the Approving Authority;
an Additional
Commissioner or a Joint Commissioner of the Income Tax Department
(c) the Administrator; Income-tax Officer
and
(d) the Adjudicating Authority.
Authority.

Advocate Ibji Majid Anwar LawRato

170 votes

Send a Benami Property Complaint to the initiating Officer (IO). The initiating officer (IO) may be either a deputy commissioner, or assistant commissioner. The Income Tax Act of 1962 describes it, according to the Benami Transactions Amendment Act of 2016.

Advocate Chikirsha Mohanty LawRato