ORDER

19.12.2024

The Appeals have arisen against the common order of the. The Ld. Adjudicating Authority (AA) dated 16.03.2023 whereby the Ld. AA confirmed the Provisional Attachment Order (PAO) dated 28.02.2022 passed under section 24 (4) (b) (i) of Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988 (‘PBPT Act, 1988’) vide which the Initiating Officer (I.O.) attached certain immovable properties of the Appellants.

Facts in brief

2. The facts briefly are that a piece of information was gathered that Sh. Dwarika Gupta (the Appellant in the Appeal No. FPA-PBPT-2584/RP/2023) had conspired for purchase of properties situated in JanjgirChampa and Bilaspur district of Chhattisgarh in the name of Sh. Onkar Singh Gond(FPA- PBPT-2590/RP/2023) who is his employee. Copies of relevant sale deeds were obtained by the I.O. Upon verification from the official CG Bhuiyan website, it was discovered that either the attached immovable properties were in the name of Sh. Onkar SinghGond or they were transferred in the name of the person acting on behalf of Sh. Dwarika Gupta. The former appeared to be holding the properties benami on behalf of the latter who appeared to be the beneficial owner.

3. On the basis of the above information a summons was issued u/s 19(1) of the PBPT Act, 1988 to Sh. Onkar SinghGond who was holding the legal title of the property in question and a statement was recorded on oath. It was revealed from the statement of Sh. Onkar SinghGond that he belongs to a Scheduled Tribe and has been working as the manager in Narmada Phosphate Ltd., Hardi since 2006 and drew monthly salary of Rs. 13,500/-. The director of this company is Sh. Firoz Khan and the promoter is Sh. Dwarika Gupta.

4. With respect to immovable property standing in his name, Sh. Onkar Singh Gond, he stated:

i. That he owns one ancestral property at Umaria, Madhya Pradesh.

ii. That he purchased one acre of land at village- Hardi, District- Bilaspur (CG) in July, 2021 for Rs. 7,15,000/-, which was sold to Sh. Divyadeep Gupta, S/o Sh. Dwarika Gupta, for a sale consideration of Rs. 8,62,000/-.

iii. That he purchased 2 acres of land in village-Takhatpur, Dist- Jangir-Champa (CG) in January 2020 which was sold to Sh. Divyadeep Gupta, S/o Sh. Dwarika Gupta for a sale consideration of Rs. 8,00,000/-.

5. He further stated that he is unaware about the person to whom this land was sold and that he is not in possession of the said sale documents and these documents are in the office of M/s UnnatBeejUtpad, Hardi, which is under the control of Sh. Dwarika Gupta and that all the sales/purchases of these properties were done as per the directions of Sh. Dwarika Prasad Gupta and the lands so purchased were sold to Shi Dwarika Prasad Gupta only. In addition, the source of funds for the purchase of the impugned properties were mainly from Sh. Dwarika Prasad Gupta and a minor part came from his own savings and that all transaction were done by him only on the direction of Sh. Dwarika Gupta.

6. Based upon the foregoing information as disclosed in the statement of Sh.Onkar SinghGond, it was concluded by the I.O. that the source of income of Sh. Onkar SinghGond is from salary and agriculture activities as per his own statement, and therefore, he doesn‟t have the necessary resources of his own to purchase land and his activity/engagement also does not show his intent to such purchases nor any document/permission shows that he is actively involved in land trading. It was stated by Sh. Onkar SinghGond that he did not file any return on income. His earning/income was below the exemption limit. However, as per the departmental database, it was gathered that Sh. Onkar Singh had filed Income Tax Return (ITR) for AY-2020-21. The same was filed on 30.03.2021, whereas in his statement recorded u/s 19(1) of the Act, he stated that he never filed his ITR for any assessment year which goes on to show that his ITR had been filed for the said year. by someone else and Sh. Onkar Singh was not aware that his I