Will The Recent Ruling On Benami Law Dig Up Old Deals?

A significant ruling of the Delhi Appellate Tribunal in the case of Prism Scan Express Pvt. Limited could be a wakeup call to all those who were under the belief that their old trades would not come under the glare of Benami Law, taking shelter of the decision of the Apex Court in the case of Ganpati Dealcom Pvt Ltd v. UoI¹ which held that the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act , 2016 shall not apply retrospectively.

The intent behind formulating the Benami Transactions Prohibition Act was to prohibit such transactions where a person used to purchase properties in the name of another person for various reasons such as tax avoidance, hiding of accumulated personal wealth, parking of unaccounted money etc. Since these transactions became largely prevalent, the Government introduced the Benami Transactions Prohibition Act, 1988 ('Old Act') to prohibit Benami Transactions and also to acquire properties acquired through such properties. However, since no