Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988

Section 18: Authorities and Jurisdiction under the PBPT Act

Section 18 identifies the statutory authorities who administer and enforce the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988 (PBPT Act), and provides that each authority may exercise the powers and perform the functions assigned to it by the Act or the prescribed rules.

Updated: 14 September 2026

What does Section 18 provide?

Section 18(1): The authorities for the purposes of the Act are:

(a) the Initiating Officer;
(b) the Approving Authority;
(c) the Administrator; and
(d) the Adjudicating Authority.

Section 18(2): These authorities exercise the powers and perform the functions conferred or assigned to them under the Act or in accordance with the rules made under it.

Meaning of the authorities named in Section 18

The definitions are found in Section 2 of the PBPT Act. In practical terms, Section 18 brings the following four authorities within the statutory enforcement structure:

Initiating Officer An Assistant Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner, as those expressions are defined in the Income-tax Act, 1961. The Initiating Officer performs key inquiry, notice and provisional attachment functions under the PBPT Act.
Approving Authority An Additional Commissioner or Joint Commissioner, as defined in the Income-tax Act, 1961. Certain steps of the Initiating Officer require the approval of this authority.
Administrator An Income-tax Officer as defined in the Income-tax Act, 1961. The Administrator is connected with management and possession of property following confiscation under the PBPT Act.
Adjudicating Authority The Adjudicating Authority referred to in Section 7 of the PBPT Act. It considers references relating to alleged benami property and passes orders in accordance with the adjudication provisions of the Act.

How Section 18 fits into the current PBPT Act

Section 18 is located in Chapter III, titled "Authorities". It is followed by provisions dealing with the powers of authorities, assistance by specified officers, calling for information, impounding documents and conducting inquiry.

Section 19 sets out specified civil-court-like powers available to the authorities for purposes of the Act. Section 20 deals with officers who may be required to assist in an inquiry. Section 23 deals with the power of an authority to conduct inquiry or investigation, subject to the statutory conditions stated there.

Current-law note: Sections 9 to 17 appearing in older versions of the law have been omitted. Section 18 remains in force and continues to identify the four authorities listed above. Readers should therefore rely on the current text of the PBPT Act rather than older pre-2021 compilations.

Jurisdiction under Section 18

Section 18 does not create an unrestricted general jurisdiction. Each authority may act only within the powers and functions that the PBPT Act and the rules confer on or assign to that authority. The source of a particular power must therefore be read together with the relevant operative provision, such as the provisions governing inquiry, notice, attachment, adjudication, confiscation, possession or appeal.

Related provisions

For the next provisions in Chapter III, see Section 19 - Powers of authorities and Section 20 - Certain officers to assist in inquiry, etc..

Official legal source

The current central Act is titled the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988. It was substantially amended by the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016. For authoritative statutory text, amendments and the latest official compilation, refer to India Code.