A total of 201 benami properties including bank accounts worth Rs 921-cr, claimed to be the biggest haul in the country, were attached by the income tax department under Benami Transaction (prohibition) Amendment Act 2016 in Rajasthan till March 31 this year. An official stated that so far, 176 benami properties and 25 bank accounts were attached till March after the amended Benami Transaction (prohibition) Amendment Act came into force in November 2016. He also stated that an important discovery that was made is that many realty developers and companies are using their Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe employees as benami owners as there is restriction in Rajasthan on purchasing land owned by SC/STs by other communities, these realty developers found a way out by using their SC/ST employees as proxies and registering the property in their name.
A major realty developer was found to be using this route liberally. The realtor registered land worth several hundred crores of rupees in the name of his employees belonging to SC/ST. The employees then transferred the land by power of attorney.
It is also mandatory for the department to take a decision on the provisionally attached property within 90 days. It must either attach the property or let it off depending on explanation by benami owner.
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