UNDER pressure to curb black money, the Union Cabinet has fast-tracked a Bill supposedly to stop benami transactions. A similar law passed by the Rajiv Gandhi government in1988 has remained unimplemented. Even the required rules under the law were not framed. The excuse trotted out for the poor show is that the law is toothless and gives limited powers to government officials. The burden of proving a benami transaction is on the government or the person making the allegation.
No matter how harsh a law may be, it would be ineffective until there is political will to take on criminals. Despite the laws, black money has grown and is widely used to buy property under fictitious names. Real estate itself is a major generator of black money. When a ceiling was imposed on agricultural land, benami deals became common. In recent years property prices have rocketed because of large inflows of illegal income. Those taking bribes or having other undeclared income use it to make full or part payments for property, whose registration value is often declared lower than its market price due to a buyer-seller-official nexus. Real estate being without a regulator has helped them in no small way.
Things are, however, changing. Though black money is still in use, benami transactions are no longer as easy. Property registration papers require the photographs of buyers and sellers. Good realty companies take payments through cheques only. Any large amount changing hands through a bank comes to the government’s notice. The Aadhar project will further cut chances of shady deals. Computerisation of records is bringing about transparency. The benami Bill is an improvement over the 1988 law but it is still not hard enough. An offender can be jailed only up to two years. If benami buyers and sellers get away with tax evasion, it is because officials let them. A cleanup of the Revenue Department alone will not help until the whole culture of corruption is targeted.
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