BENAMI TRANSACTION: FROM THE OLD CONCEPT TO THE NEW BILL

ABSTRACT Benami transactions have been practiced in Indian even before the advent of Britishers. It was a legally recognised concept then. It was not considered harmless. However, eventually these were often used to resort to furthering illegal or questionable objects, including the evasion of taxes. Benami transactions were sometimes also resorted in order to defeat creditors. The practice gradually became rampant. Hence, a proper Legislation was required to curb the benami activities to ultimately curtail the illegal objects of the real owners. Thus, an Ordinance was introduced in 1988 followed by the 1988 Act. However, this 1988 Act, i-e, the current Act, hasn’t had effective provisions and implementation. A need to have a better Legislation was thus felt. By clearing the 2015 Amendment Bill, the implementation of the provisions to control Benami transaction is hoped to be achieved efficiently. The paper thus seeks to analyse the meaning of Benami Transactions and what colour it has taken over these years.