Prospective application of benami attachment provisions kept proceedings suspended for an earlier transaction.

The amended provisions of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, including notice of attachment and provisional attachment, were treated as prospective and not applicable to a 2011 transaction because the relevant amendment was stated to operate from 01.11.2016. On that basis, application of the amended attachment machinery to the earlier transaction was not justified at the interim stage, and the impugned proceedings were kept suspended until the returnable date.

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Issues: Whether the amended provisions of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988, including the provisions relating to notice of attachment and provisional attachment, could be applied to a transaction of 2011 and whether interim suspension of the proceedings was warranted.

Analysis: The transaction relied upon by the petitioner was of 2011, whereas the amendment bringing the relevant provisions into force was stated to operate from 01.11.2016. The provisions invoked for notice and attachment were therefore examined on the basis of their temporal operation. Since the amended provisions were acknowledged to be prospective, their application to an earlier transaction was not justified at the interim stage.

Conclusion: The impugned proceedings were ordered to remain suspended until the returnable date.

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