Section 57 Benami Act: Certain Transfers to be Null and Void

Section 57 of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988 deals with transfers of property made after a notice has been issued under Section 24. It protects proceedings under the Act from being defeated by a later transfer of the property.

Section 57 - Certain transfers to be null and void

What Section 57 means

Section 57 contains a non-obstante clause. This means that, for the limited purpose stated in the provision, Section 57 overrides inconsistent consequences that might otherwise follow under the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 or another law.

The provision operates after a notice under Section 24 has been issued in relation to the property. A later transfer does not remove the property from the statutory proceedings.

Connection with Section 24

Section 24 concerns notice and attachment of property involved in a benami transaction. In substance, where the Initiating Officer has the required reason to believe that a person is a benamidar in respect of property, the officer may, after recording reasons in writing, issue a show-cause notice under Section 24(1).

Section 57 therefore prevents a transfer made after such notice from frustrating the adjudication process. For the purpose of proceedings under the Act, that transfer is ignored.

Connection with Section 27

Section 27 deals with confiscation and vesting of benami property. Section 57 adds a further consequence: if the property transferred after the Section 24 notice is later confiscated under Section 27, the intervening transfer is deemed to be null and void.

Key legal points under Section 57

• The relevant property must be property referred to in a notice issued under Section 24.
• The transfer must take place after issue of that notice.
• The mode of transfer does not matter; the section applies to a transfer by any mode whatsoever.
• For proceedings under the Act, the post-notice transfer is ignored.
• If the property is subsequently confiscated by the Central Government under Section 27, the transfer is deemed null and void.

Official text and legal reference

For the authoritative statutory text and the latest incorporated amendments, readers should verify the Act on the official India Code portal. The official consolidated text identifies it as Act No. 45 of 1988 and contains Sections 24, 27 and 57 in their statutory context.

This page is a general legal information resource. The application of Section 57 depends on the facts, procedural stage and orders passed in the particular case.