Comments
A Parliamentary Panel has picked holes in the Centre's much-awaited Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Bill, 2011.
The Standing Committee on Finance, which adopted a report on the Bill recently, has pulled up the Government for “weakening” the existing 1988 Act.
The panel said though the Act was passed in 1988, rules to implement the legislation were not framed till the date. It observed that the purpose of bringing out such legislation was lost due to the the Government's inaction.
‘Modifications needed'
The 2011 Bill, which is supposed to be a comprehensive legislation, needs several modifications, it said. The panel noted that the provisions of the Bill were not in harmony with the recommendations of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission. Besides, it doesn't even refer to the United Nations' Convention Against Corruption.
The panel noted that several key terms such as ‘transaction', ‘arrangement', ‘partner' and ‘agent' are not defined in the Bill.
Asking the Government to include proper definitions in the Bill, the panel said such a move will remove ambiguity and leave no scope for misinterpretation. The panel wanted the Government to extend the provisions of the Bill to Jammu and Kashmir as well.
It also recommended that there should be no exemption other than purchasing property in the name of spouse or unmarried daughter. It said the “long list” of exempted and non-prohibitive transactions does not go well with the real objective of the proposed law.
Agreeing that tracking the source of money in a benami transaction will be a challenge, the panel said an in-built mechanism could be created in the proposed Bill which will look at suspicious transactions.
Further, it noted that clauses 13(1) and 13(4)(a)(ii) of the Bill — notice and attachment of property involved in prohibited benami transaction — are contradictory.
It also pointed out that the Bill is silent on the rules and procedures to be prescribed for confiscating benami property by the proposed Adjudicating Authority. It said an appellate tribunal could be set up for speedy disposal of cases registered under the proposed Act.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.