The Income Tax department has identified more than 400 benami transactions under the new Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016, which came into effect from November 1, 2016.
A statement issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said that the I-T department has provisionally attached properties in over 240 cases under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Rules, 2016.
“The Income-tax Directorates of Investigation have identified more than 400 benami transactions up to 23 May, 2017. These include deposits in bank accounts, plots of land, flat and jewellery,” it said, adding that the market value of properties under attachment is estimated at around Rs 600 crore.
“Immovable properties have been attached in 40 cases with total value of more than Rs, 530 crore in Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh,” the statement said.
To implement the new law and identify benami transactions, the department has also set up 24 dedicated Benami Prohibition Units (BPUs) across the country.
The 24 dedicated units are under the overall supervision of the Principal Directors of Investigation in the Income-tax Department to enable swift action and follow up, especially in cases where criminality has been detected.
As per the new Act, benami property includes movable or immovable property, tangible or intangible property, corporeal or incorporeal property. It empowers provisional attachment and subsequent confiscation of benami properties.
It also allows for prosecution of the beneficial owner, the benamidar, the abettor and the inducer to benami transactions, which may result in rigorous imprisonment up to 7 years and fine up to 25 per cent of fair market value of the property.
The department said it has also undertaken searches on 10 senior government officials during the past one month, in line with its policy to unearth black money earned through corrupt practices and introduce accountability and probity in public life.
Giving details, the department said in one case in Jabalpur, the "benamidar", a driver, was found to be owner of land worth Rs 7.7 crore. The beneficial owner was a Madhya Pradesh based listed company, his employer.
In Mumbai, a professional was found to be holding several immovable properties in the name of shell companies which exist only on paper.
In another case in Sanganer, Rajasthan, a jeweller was found to be the beneficial owner of nine immovable properties in the name of his former employee, a man of no means.
Certain properties purchased through shell companies have also been attached by the department in Kolkata.
The crackdown on all forms of illicit wealth is being spearheaded by the department to ensure that any economic misdeed is immediately identified and actions as per law follow, the release added.
