Notification No. SO 5194(E)

[फा. सं. 370149/170/2018-टीपीएल]

What this is

Notification No. SO 5194(E) was published on 9 October 2018. Its subject is [फा. सं. 370149/170/2018-टीपीएल].

What it does

The Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions (Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2018, made under sub-section (1) of section 70 of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988, amends section 48 of that Act. In sub-section (1), "A person preferring an appeal to" is substituted by "A person, including the Initiating Officer, who is a party to any proceedings before", so that any party to a proceeding before the Appellate Tribunal, and the Initiating Officer in particular, may appear in person or through an authorised representative. In the Explanation, the opening words "means a person authorised by the appellant" are substituted so that in relation to the Initiating Officer an authorised representative means a person authorised by the Central Government, and in relation to any other party means a person authorised by that party; and in clauses (i) and (ii) of the Explanation, "the appellant" is substituted by "the party" wherever it occurs.

Why it was issued

The order recites that a difficulty had arisen because section 48(1) made no specific reference to the Initiating Officer and provided for representation only of the person preferring the appeal and not of the other parties to the proceedings before the Appellate Tribunal.

Who it reaches

Parties to proceedings before the Appellate Tribunal under the Benami Act other than the appellant
Initiating Officers appearing or being represented before the Tribunal
Counsel and authorised representatives appearing in benami proceedings
The Central Government in authorising a representative for the Initiating Officer

The provisions it speaks to

Left, the provision of the Income-tax Act, 1961 as the instrument itself names it. Right, the section of the Income-tax Act, 2025 that the department’s own concordance maps it to — which is where the same ground is now covered.

Under the 1961 Act	Now
s.48	s.2, s.72
s.70	s.108

The instrument, as the Board published it

The department publishes this one only as a PDF, so the words below were read out of that PDF by machine. That reading can carry its own mistakes — a misread number, a broken line. Check the signed document before you rely on a figure in it.

[फा. सं. 370149/170/2018-टीपीएल]
0%
, निदेशक (टीपीएल-II)
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE)
(CENTRAL BOARD OF DIRECT TAXES)
ORDER
New Delhi, the 9th October, 2018
INCOME-TAX
S.O.5194 (E).—Whereas, sub-section (1) of section 48 of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act,1988 (45 of 1988)(hereafter referred to as the said Act) provides that a person preferring an appeal to the Appellate Tribunal under said Act may either appear in person or take the assistance of an authorised representative of his choice to present his case before the Appellate Tribunal; sub-section (2) of section 48 of the said Act provides that the Central Government may authorise one or more of its officers to act as presenting officers on its behalf, and every person so authorised may present the case with respect to any appeal before the Appellate Tribunal; the Explanation to section 48 of the said Act defines the term "authorised representative" for the purposes of said section;

And, whereas, a difficulty has arisen in view of the fact that although, under sub-section (1) of section 48 of the said Act─
¹Hkkx IIµ[k.M 3(ii)º Hkkjr dk jkti=k % vlk/kj.k 3
(i) the Initiating Officer, being a person preferring appeal to the Appellate Tribunal under the said Act, may either appear in person or take the assistance of an authorised representative, there is a need to remove the difficulty arising from the absence of specific reference of the Initiating Officer in sub-section (1) of section 48 of the said Act; and
(ii) provides for the representation before the Appellate Tribunal for the person preferring appeal, but does not provide for representation by the other parties to the proceedings before the Appellate Tribunal, there is a need to remove difficulty in respect of representation by the other parties to the proceedings before the Appellate Tribunal;

Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 70 of the said Act, the Central Government hereby makes the following Order to remove the aforesaid difficulties, namely:-

1. Short title and commencement.- (1) This Order may be called the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions (Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2018.
(2) It shall come into force from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.

2. In section 48 of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988, ─
(A) in sub-section (1), for the words "A person preferring an appeal to", the words "A person, including the Initiating Officer, who is a party to any proceedings before" shall be substituted;
(B) in the Explanation, ─
(I) in the opening portion, for the words "means a person authorised by the appellant" the following shall be substituted, namely: ─
"in relation to ─
(i) the Initiating Officer, means a person authorised by the Central Government;
(ii) any other party to the proceedings, means a person authorised by the party";
(II) in clause (i) and (ii) for the words, "the appellant" wherever they occur, the words "the party" shall be substituted.

[F. No.370149/170/2018-TPL]
PRAVIN RAWAL, Director (TPL-II)
Uploaded by Dte. of Printing at Government of India Press, Ring Road, Mayapuri, New Delhi-110064 and Published by the Controller of Publications, Delhi-110054.

From when

The date of publication in the Official Gazette.

What to watch

The Order comes into force from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.
The right of representation now attaches to any party to the proceedings and not only to the person preferring the appeal.
For the Initiating Officer the authorisation must come from the Central Government, and not from the officer himself.
The Order is made under the removal-of-difficulties power in section 70(1), which is time-limited by that section.

Where you meet it

In an appearance before the Appellate Tribunal under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988, and in the vakalatnama or authorisation filed with it.

On the same provision

Other instruments in this library that name the same provision of the 1961 Act. They are not necessarily still operative, and a later one may have replaced an earlier one without saying so.

Notification No. 70/2025 [F. No. 370142/24/2025-TPL)] / S.O. 2954(E) — Ministry of Finance 1 July 2025
Notification No. 44/2024 [F.No.370142/10/2024-TPL] / SO 2103(E) — Ministry of Finance 24 May 2024
Notification No. 39/2023 [F. No.370142/5/2023-TPL] / SO 2571(E) — Ministry of Finance 12 June 2023
Notification No. 21/2023 [F.No.370142/5/2023-TPL] / SO 1692(E) — Ministry of Finance 10 April 2023
Notification No. 62/2022 [F. No. 370142/20/2022-TPL] / SO 2735(E) — Ministry of Finance 14 June 2022
Notification No. 73/2021 [F.No.370142/10/2021-TPL] / SO 2336(E) — Ministry of Finance 15 June 2021

← Notification No. 67/2018 [F.No.149/144/2015-TPL(Pt.IV)] / SO 5323(E) · Notification No. 61/2018[F.No.300196/58/2018-ITA-I]/SO 5175(E) →

What a notification is. A notification is made under a power the Act itself gives, and within that power it is law — unlike a circular, which only binds the department. Its reach is the reach of the enabling provision and no wider, and the date it carries decides from when it works.

Source: the Income Tax Department’s own published text — its page for this instrument.