Section 17 of the Benami Act: Officers and Employees of Adjudicating Authority

Section 17 was inserted into the law by the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016. It dealt with the officers and employees provided to the Adjudicating Authority and the supervision under which those officers and employees were to perform their functions.

Current legal status: Section 17 of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988 has been omitted with effect from 1 July 2021. It should therefore be read as a historical provision and not as an operative section of the present Act.

Former Section 17 - Officers and Employees of Adjudicating Authority

(1) The Central Government shall provide each Adjudicating Authority with such officers and employees as that Government may think fit.

(2) The officers and employees of the Adjudicating Authority shall discharge their functions under the general superintendence of the Chairperson of the Adjudicating Authority.

What did Section 17 provide?

In substance, the former Section 17 contained two administrative rules. First, it placed responsibility on the Central Government to provide the Adjudicating Authority with officers and employees considered necessary. Second, it required those officers and employees to perform their statutory functions under the general superintendence of the Chairperson of the Adjudicating Authority.

The provision did not itself confer adjudicatory powers on the officers or employees. Its purpose was institutional and administrative: staffing the Adjudicating Authority and identifying the supervisory framework for its supporting personnel.

Why is Section 17 no longer operative?

Sections 9 to 17 of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988 were omitted by the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021 with effect from 1 July 2021. Accordingly, the earlier statutory framework dealing with the constitution, members, service conditions, vacancies, and staff of the Adjudicating Authority under those sections is no longer reproduced in the current Act.

Practical reading note: Older proceedings, orders, pleadings, commentaries, or judgments may still refer to Section 17 because the provision formed part of the Act from the 2016 amendment until its omission in 2021. For present-day statutory interpretation, readers should consult the current consolidated text of the Act.

Meaning of "Adjudicating Authority" under the Act

The Act defines "Adjudicating Authority" in Section 2. Following the 2021 amendments, the definition refers to the Adjudicating Authority referred to in Section 7. Readers dealing with a current benami proceeding should therefore examine the present Section 7 and the current consolidated Act rather than relying on the omitted staffing provisions in former Sections 9 to 17.

Official legal sources

Related provisions

Updated: 14 September 2026