Union Budget 2024-25 (Full) + FINANCE (No.2) Bill, 2024

Section 24 of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions (PBPT) Act, 1988 relates to notice and attachment of property involved in Benami transaction.

2. The existing provisions of sub-section (3) of the said section 24 of PBPT Act do not provide for any time limit for a benamidar to furnish a reply to the notice issued under sub-section (1) or beneficial owner to file submissions on copy of said notice given to him under sub-section (2).

3. It is proposed to insert sub-section (2A) to provide a maximum time limit of three months from the end of the month in which notice is issued under sub-section (1) for the benamidar or the beneficial owner to file their explanations or submissions.

4. The existing provisions of sub-section (3) and sub-section (4) of the said section provide for a time limit of 90 days from the last day of the month in which notice under sub-section (1) is issued for the Initiating Officer to provisionally attach the property or to pass an order for continuing the provisional attachment or revoking the provisional attachment or deciding not to attach the property, as the case may be.

5. It is proposed to amend the said sub-section (3) and sub-section (4) of section 24 of the PBPT Act to increase the said period to four months from the end of the month in which notice under sub-section (1) of the said section is issued.

6. The existing provisions of sub-section (5) of said section 24 allow for a time period of fifteen days from the date of attachment order to the Initiating Officer to draw up a statement of the case and refer it to the Adjudicating Authority.

7. It is proposed to amend the said sub-section to increase the said period to one month from the end of the month in which the order under sub-clause (i) of clause (a), or under sub-clause (i) of clause (b) of sub-section (4) of the said section 24 of the PBPT Act, 1988, has been passed.

8. These amendments will take effect from the 1st day of October, 2024.

[Clause 154]

 

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Full Text:

Union Budget 2024-25 (Full) + FINANCE (No.2) Bill, 2024

Time limits for responses under benami property procedure extended; provisional attachment decision lengthened and statement referral increased, effective October. Amendments to section 24 fix procedural timelines: benamidar and beneficial owner must file explanations within three months from the end of the month of notice; the Initiating Officer's period to provisionally attach or decide attachment matters is extended to four months from the end of the month of notice; and the period to prepare and refer the statement of the case to the Adjudicating Authority is increased to one month from the end of the month in which the attachment order is passed.