Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988

The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988
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[1]
Enacted by	Parliament of India
Date commenced	19 May 1988[2]

Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988 is an Act of Parliament of India that prohibits benami transactions and the right to recover property held benami. It came into force on 5 September 1988. The benami transaction is any transaction in which property is transferred to one person for a consideration paid by another person.^[3][4]

Etymology

Benami is a Persian language word that means "without name" or "no name". In this Act, the word is used to define a transaction in which the real beneficiary is not the one in whose name the property is purchased. As a result, the person in whose name the property is purchased is just a mask of the real beneficiary.^[5]

Background

In 1973, the Law Commission of India after studying various Acts and prevailing benami system, recommended formulating an Act to tackle the issue. Accordingly, the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988 was enacted by the Parliament which came into force on 19 May 1988.^[2]

However, due to various deficiencies in the Act, the rules required for operationalizing the Act were not framed. To address these deficiencies, several years later, in 2011, the Govt of India introduced "Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Bill, 2011".^[2][5]

Technological Help

Aadhaar is a 12-digit social security number assigned to residents of India for lifetime. It is a digital identity, verifiable online instantly in public domain, at anytime, from anywhere, in a paperless way. Aadhaar is a technological help to Benami law enforcement. It is capable of preventing benami transactions in retail-corruption areas. Its mandatory use in property and financial transactions can be a game-changer.^[6][7]

As the public databases are getting inter-linked one by one through Aadhaar number in various states (particularly Delhi),^[8] middlemen and officials now find difficult to continue with corruption in social security programs like pensions,^[9] scholarships, health,^[10] NREGA, subsidy on PDS Ration,^[11] kerosene,^[12] and LPG.^[13]

Ineligible, duplicate and fictitious beneficiaries are getting eliminated from social security programs.^[14]

Corrupt people are finding difficult to buy and sell benami land and building,^[15] to open and operate benami companies for money-laundering.^[16][17] They are also finding difficult to open and operate benami bank accounts for keeping criminal proceeds.^[18] Tax-evaders are finding difficult to evade taxes,^[19] and impersonation and proxy are getting difficult to commit due to online biometric validation.^[20]

References