Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: Aimed at curbing generation of domestic black money, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal to amend law to regulate benami transactions.
The Bill would provide for prosecution and would aim to act as a major avenue for blocking generation and holding of black money in the form of benami property, especially in real estate.
The government had in Budget 2015-16, presented at the end of February, announced that it would come out with a new and more comprehensive Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Bill.
The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act was earlier enacted in 1988, but the rules under that Act could not be formulated due to inherent infirmities in the Act.
Following this, in 2011 the government introduced in Parliament a Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Bill, which proposed replacing the 1988 Act.
The Bill was referred to the Standing Committee on Finance for examination, which submitted its report in June 2012. However, the Bill lapsed with the dissolution of 15th Lok Sabha.
With PTI Inputs
