The Karnataka High Court on Thursday stayed show-cause notice issued to Gowramma, the mother of Water Resources Minister D.K. Shivakumar, under the provisions of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988.
Justice Alok Aradhe passed the interim order on a petition filed by 80-year-old Ms. Gowramma, who questioned the notice, issued on March 22, 2019, by an officer of the Benami Property Unit of Income Tax Department.
Claiming that it was her absolute properties and the source of their acquisition had been explained, it was contended in the petition that she “cannot be treated as Benamidar and her son cannot be treated as beneficial owner and the entire transaction of purchase of the properties and the credits in the bank account cannot be held as benami properties...”
The authorities initially issued a notice in November-December 2018 under Section 21(1) of the Act asking her to provide information on various transactions. Ms. Gowramma had submitted replies in January 2019 by furnishing a list of properties besides answering questions by personally appearing before the authorised officer.
Not satisfied with her replies, the authorities on March 22, 2019, issued notice under Section 24(1) of the Act asking her to show cause on why the transactions should not be treated as benami transactions as per Section 2(9) (A) of the Act, and why all credits appearing in a savings bank account of a nationalised bank having its branch in Palace Orchards in Bengaluru should not be treated as benami properties within the meaning of Section 2(8) and Section 2(26) of the Act. The authorities, the petitioner claimed, had on March 29, 2019, provisionally attached the properties asking her not to transact, convert or dispose or deal in any manner even before she could file her replies to the show-cause notice.
As transaction of these properties had occurred during 2002-2015, the plea said provisions of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016, which came into effect from November 1, 2016, could not be invoked retrospectively.
Ms. Gowramma sought for a direction to declare retrospective application of certain provisions of the PBPT (Amendment) Act, 2016, while seeking direction for quashing all the proceedings initiated under this Act.
