Supreme Court nixes its verdict quashing parts of benami property law

NEW DELHI: In a rare instance, Supreme Court on Friday recalled its Aug 2022 judgment striking down key provisions of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act , 1988, finding force in Union govt's argument that the SC had erroneously ruled on the validity of the provisions even though no party had challenged them.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta told a bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and Manoj Misra that the only question for court's consideration was whether the PBPT Act, as amended by the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016, had a prospective effect.

"The judgment of Aug 23, 2022, had erroneously proceeded to consider and adjudicate upon the question of constitutionality of Sections 3 and 5 of the unamended 1988 Act, though the issue was never raised by parties," he said, pressing for allowing Centre's review plea on the ground that an error had crept into the judgment. The bench ordered restoration of govt's appeal against an HC order disallowing confiscation of benami properties of a company after recalling its 2022 order.