Cabinet okays law on ‘benami’ transactions to curb black money

After the measure to bring back black money stashed abroad, government on Wednesday cleared a bill to deal with <g data-gr-id="17">benami</g> transactions with confiscation of property and prosecution in a bid to eliminate the menace of domestic unaccounted wealth, especially in realty sector.

The Union Cabinet approved the new Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Bill which provides for stringent measures against violators like confiscation of wealth, imprisonment and fine.

“The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) (Amendment) Bill, 2015 provides for attachment and confiscation of <g data-gr-id="18">benami</g> properties and also fine with imprisonment. This is one more initiative to fight the menace of black money inside the country,” said an official statement issued after the Cabinet meeting.

For decades, <g data-gr-id="19">benami</g> transactions by nature have been entered into by people who buy immovable and other properties in others’ names to avoid tax and disclosure of ownership. It has been one of the major sources of generation of domestic black money.