Whether property purchased in the name of member of family will amount to benami transaction?

 I now come to the second additional substantial question of law pertaining to the stand of the appellant that claim of the plaintiff's title and not the title of the defendants over the suit property was barred under Section 4 of the Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Act, 1988. The said submission, in my view, cannot at all be accepted since acquisition of the land in the name of a member of a family from the joint family property cannot be regarded as a benami transaction within the meaning of Section 2 of the Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Act, 1988. Benami transaction has been defined under Section 2(a) of the Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Act, 1988 as any transaction in which property is transferred to one person and a consideration is paid or provided by another person. In the present case, the consideration has been found to have been provided by the joint family fund which cannot be treated as fund of another person. In my view, therefore, the said provision does not have any application at all in the present facts and circumstances. This is also to be noted that the plaintiff claimed his title purely on the basis of the family arrangement and not aa benamidar and, therefore, the suit cannot be said to be hit by Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Act, 1988. The said question is also answered accordingly.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PATNA

Second Appeal No. 229 of 2002

Decided On: 04.07.2018

 Narendra Prasad Singh Vs. Ram Ashish Singh and Ors.


Hon'ble Judges/Coram:
Chakradhari Sharan Singh, J.


Citation: AIR 2018 Patna 205.
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