Benami Transactions in Pench Tiger Reserve | Madhya Pradesh | 21 Jan 2025

The Benami Prohibition Unit (BPU) of the Income Tax Department detected three Benami transactions in the Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh.

Details of Benami Transactions:
- Two Benami transactions involved land with existing resorts, while the third pertained to land intended for a resort.
- The IT Department’s Benami Prohibition Unit (BPU) detected and attached all three properties under the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act 2016.
  - Madhya Pradesh leads the country in Benami property attachments with over 1,400 properties worth Rs 900-950 crore.
Legal Context in Scheduled Tribal Areas:
- Section 165 of the Code of Land Revenue prohibits selling tribal land to non-tribals in Madhya Pradesh’s notified scheduled areas.
- Tribals may lease land to non-tribals in notified and non-notified rural areas without district collector approval.
- Beneficial owners circumvented this ban by using tribal proxies to purchase the land and then leasing it back for resort construction.
Significance of Benami Property Attachments in Tiger Reserves:
- These attachments represent a rare crackdown on Benami transactions within tiger reserves.
- Other resorts in tribal-dominated areas near tiger reserves and wildlife sanctuaries are under investigation for similar violations.

PTR is the joint pride of both Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
The Reserve is located in the southern reaches of the Satpura hills in the Seoni and Chhindwara districts in Madhya Pradesh, and continues in Nagpur district in Maharashtra as a separate Sanctuary.
- It was declared a National Park by the Government of Maharashtra in 1975 and the identity of a tiger reserve was granted to it in the year 1992.
- However, PTR Madhya Pradesh was granted the same status in 1992-1993. It is one of the major Protected Areas of Satpura-Maikal ranges of the Central Highlands.
It is among the sites notified as Important Bird Areas (IBA) of India.
- The IBA is a programme of Birdlife International which aims to identify, monitor and protect a global network of IBAs for conservation of the world’s birds and associated diversity.

The Act amended the Original Act (Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Act 1988) and renamed it as Prohibition of Benami Property Transaction Act, 1988.
The Act defines a benami transaction as a transaction where:
- a property is held by or transferred to a person, but has been provided for or paid by another person.
- the transaction is made in a fictitious name
- the owner is not aware of denies knowledge of the ownership of the property,
- the person providing the consideration for the property is not traceable.