
BHOPAL: In the tiger state of Madhya Pradesh, the menace of Benami transactions has extended to the territory of the big cat.
At least three Benami transactions have been detected by the Benami Prohibition Unit (BPU) of the Income Tax Department in the Pench Tiger Reserve, famously known as the ‘Land of Jungle Book’s Mowgli.’
Two of the transactions involve land housing two prominent resorts, while the third relates to a piece of land on which a resort was planned to be built.
Importantly, in accordance with Section 165 of the Code of Land Revenue in Scheduled Tribe areas of Madhya Pradesh, there is a complete ban on selling tribal land to non-tribals in notified scheduled areas. Even district collectors do not have the authority to allow such transactions. However, tribals can lease land to non-tribals in notified scheduled areas and non-notified rural areas without the district collector’s permission.
As a result, the beneficial owners in all three cases of Benami transactions ultimately leading to the attachment of the three properties by the IT Department purchased land owned by tribals through tribal proxies. These proxies then leased the land back to the beneficial owners to build resorts on at least two of the properties. The third land was also intended for the construction of a resort, but the IT Department’s BPU detected the Benami transaction in time.
Consequently, all three Benami properties, including the two resorts, were attached by the IT Department under the provisions of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act 2016.
“The three Benami properties that were detected and attached in 2021-22, with a collective value of around Rs 4 crore, cover a combined area of about ten hectares,” informed sources told this newspaper.
Investigations revealed that the three beneficial owners—none of whom were tribals used tribals as proxies (Benamidars) to purchase the land from the original tribal owners in tribal areas, circumventing the ban on selling land to non-tribals in the notified scheduled areas of the state.
Under the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act 2016, a Benamidar is a person who holds property in their name for the benefit of another person, while the person who actually pays for the property is the Beneficial Owner.
These three Benami property attachments within tiger territory (located within a radius of one to four km from the Turia Gate of the Pench Tiger Reserve) may be the first of their kind in any tiger reserve in the country, but more could follow in the future.
According to informed sources, after the three attachments made in 2021-22, several other resorts are now on the IT Department’s radar due to suspicions that they were developed on land obtained through Benami transactions, particularly as most of the eight tiger reserves and wildlife sanctuaries are located in tribal-dominated areas of the state, which houses the largest tribal population in the country.
Interestingly, it was a tax evasion petition (TEP) that led to the first attachment. During the investigation, the IT Department's BPU stumbled upon two more similar properties, resulting in their attachment as well.
In terms of the total number of Benami properties attached across the country under the amended Benami law of 2016, Madhya Pradesh’s BPU has attached the most, with over 1,400 Benami properties. The total value of these attached properties is estimated between Rs 900 crore and Rs 950 crore.
Out of the 1,400 attached properties, ten were seized in 2024-25, including shares worth approximately Rs 350 crore held by promoters of a listed company in the names of their employees.
Another major attachment included 150 khasras (land holdings in revenue records) held by the owners of a stone crushing plant in the name of their henchmen in Sidhi district, eastern MP, which borders Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
In a recent development, two Benami properties (land) held by a prominent and influential builder, whose premises were recently raided in Bhopal by the IT Department, were also attached.