Benami Act bar on pending restitution claim rejected; pre-commencement proceeding remained maintainable and possession was restored.

Section 4 of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition of Right to Recover Property) Act, 1988 bars a suit, claim or action by the real owner only where the proceeding is instituted after the Act came into force. An application under Section 144 CPC for restoration of possession, filed and allowed before commencement, was not extinguished by the later enactment. The subsequent delivery of possession under Order 21 Rule 35 CPC was merely consequential and did not amount to a fresh post-commencement claim. The pending proceeding was therefore not hit by Section 4, and the revisional order treating the provision as retrospective was unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether Section 4 of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition of Right to Recover Property) Act, 1988 barred the appellant's application for restoration of possession under Section 144 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, and the consequential delivery of possession under Order 21, Rule 35 of that Code, on the ground that the provision operated retrospectively.

Analysis: Section 4 bars a suit, claim or action by the real owner to enforce a right in property held benami, but the bar applies to claims or proceedings instituted after the Act came into force. The appellant's application under Section 144 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 had been filed and allowed before the Ordinance/Act came into force. The later formal delivery of possession under Order 21, Rule 35 was only consequential and did not amount to a fresh claim or action by the appellant after commencement of the Act. The Court therefore held that the pending proceeding was not hit by Section 4 and that the High Court was wrong in treating the provision as retrospectively extinguishing the appellant's pending claim.

Conclusion: Section 4 did not bar the appellant's pending restoration proceeding, and the impugned revisional order was unsustainable.

Final Conclusion: The appeal was allowed and the revisional order of the High Court was set aside, restoring the appellant's entitlement to possession.

Ratio Decidendi: Section 4 of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition of Right to Recover Property) Act, 1988 does not defeat a claim or proceeding already instituted and pending before the Act came into force; only claims or actions initiated after commencement are barred.

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