New Delhi : The Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Act was enacted in 1988 but it remained on the statute book as unoperational for 28 years because of “certain inherent defects” until amended in 2016 to attach and impound such properties. Minister of State for Finance Santosh Gangwar disclosed this in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday in a written reply to Goa’s Congress member Shantaram Naik while giving details of actions taken since the amended law came into effect from November 1, 2016.
He said the 1988 Act even did not have any provision to file charge-sheets. Since the amendment, more than 245 ‘benami’ transactions have been identified, the show-cause notices issued in case of 140 properties worth Rs 200 crore and provisional attachment already effected in 124 cases.
