What is a benami property.

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What is Benami?
Benami essentially means property without a name. In this kind of transaction the person who pays for the property does not buys it under his/her own name. The person on whose name the property has been purchased is called the benamdar and the property so purchased is called the benami property. The person who finances the deal is the real owner. '

The property is held for the benefit - direct or indirect - of the person paying the amount.

What constitutes Benami property?
Property that does not stick to the following criteria:
a) Property held in the name of spouse or child for which the amount is paid out of known sources of income
b) A joint property with brother, sister or other relatives for which the amount is paid out of known sources of income
c) Property held by someone in a fiduciary capacity

This means, by law, if you buy a property in name of your parents, too, can be declared as benami.

ALSO READ: Here's how PM Modi plans to hunt down benami property holders

In August, Parliament had passed the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, with the assurance from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley that genuine religious trusts would be kept out of the purview of this new legislation.

The new legislation will make a provision of seven year imprisonment and fine, replacing the three-year jail term, or fine, or both.

An Act to prohibit benami transactions and the right to recover property held benami and for matters corrected therewith or incidental thereto. Citation. Act No. 45 of 1988. ... The benami transaction is any transaction in which property is transferred to one person for a consideration paid by another person.

Advocate Siddhant Sharma LawRato