Cabinet nod for Appellate Tribunal for benami transaction cases

New Delhi: The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the appointment of an Adjudicating Authority and the setting up of an Appellate Tribunal for speedy disposal of cases related to benami transactions, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said following the Cabinet meeting.

Benami refers to transactions made in a fictitious name.  A Finance Ministry release said the Adjudicating Authority and Appellate Tribunal will be based in the National Capital Territory of Delhi.

Benches of Adjudicating Authority may sit in Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, and the notification in this regard would be issued after consultations with the Chairperson of the proposed Adjudicating Authority, it said. 

"The approval will result in effective and better administration of cases referred to the Adjudicating Authority and speedy disposal of appeals filed against the order of the Adjudicating Authority before the Appellate Tribunal," the statement said.

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The appointment of the Adjudicating Authority would provide first-stage review of administrative action under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions (PBPT) Act, it said. 

The proposed Appellate Tribunal would provide an appellate mechanism for the order passed by the Adjudicating Authority under the PBPT Act which came into force in November 2016, the statement added.