There is a proposal to amend the Benami Act. The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2015 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 13th May, 2015 to amend the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988.

Any transaction within the definition of ‘benami transaction’ shall attract consequential action under the Benami Transactinos (Prohibition) Act, 1988 after the enactment of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2015. Clause 4 of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2015 defines a “benami transaction” to mean, -

• a transaction or an arrangement –
  • where a property is transferred to, or is held by, a person, and the consideration for such property has been provided, or paid by, another person; and
  • the property is held for the immediate for future benefit, direct or indirect, of the person who has provided the consideration, except when the property is held by-

• a Karta, or a member of a Hindu undivided family, as the case may be, and the property is held for his benefit or benefit of other members in the family and the consideration for such property has been provided or paid out of the known sources of income of the Hindu undivided family;
• a person standing in a fiduciary capacity for the benefit of another person towards whom he stands in such capacity and includes a trustee, executor, partner, director of a company, a depository or a participant as an agent of a depository under the Depositories Act, 1996 and any other person as may be notified by the Central Government for this purpose;
• any person being an individual in the name of his spouse or in the name of any child of such individual and the consideration for such property has been provided or paid out of the known sources of income of the individual;
• any person in the name of his brother or sister or lineal ascendant or descendant, where the names of brother and sister or lineal ascendant or descendant and the individual appear as joint-owners in any document, and the consideration for such property has been provided or paid out of the known sources of income of the individual; or

• a transaction or an arrangement in respect of a property carried out or made in a fictitious name; or               
• a transaction or an arrangement in respect of a property where the owner of the property is not aware of, or, denies knowledge of, such ownership;
• a transaction or an arrangement in respect of a property where the person providing the consideration is not traceable or is fictitious.

This was stated by Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

Benami transaction definition clarified: amendment expands scope and prescribes specific exceptions and fiduciary safeguards. Amendment defines benami transaction as where property is held by one person but consideration is provided by another and the property benefits the consideration-provider, and lists exceptions including Hindu undivided family holdings from known HUF sources, fiduciary holdings (trustees, executors, partners, directors, depository agents), specified relatives holding with consideration from known personal sources, fictitious-name transactions, undisclosed ownership by ostensible owners, and untraceable or fictitious consideration-providers.