The central investigation agencies probing the Narada pay-off case have hit a hurdle insofar as establishing the ownership of about 40 benami properties is concerned.
For future references what threatens to hinder the identification of benami owners is the Trinamool Congress Government’s blunt refusal to make property transactions Aadhaar compliant, sources say.
Bengal is among few States which has yet to link Aadhaar numbers with transaction of properties. The Bengal Government refuses to make property transactions Aadhaar compliant because “there are still lakhs of people who have not been issued Aadhaar cards. The Government cannot stop them from transacting without Aadhaar card,” says a senior official.
A decision was taken in December 2015 by the Centre’s Department of land Resources to make property transactions Aadhaar compliant and a circular to this effect was issued in March this year in order to enable the authorities to keep track of benami transactions — done away with anyway in 1988 after the prohibition of Benami Property Transaction Act came into vogue.
In order to make the new rules easily implementable State’s were asked to set up adequate infrastructure so that Aadhaar numbers could be issued at all offices of sub-registrars.
Notwithstanding for reasons best known to the Bengal Government the Central directive was ignored and properties were allowed to be transacted in benami ownership.
One of the investigators probing the Narada case said that while investigating the case, they chanced upon numerous such properties worth more than a crore but owned by people receiving allowance under old-person pension scheme.
“lands worth crores have been transacted by people who have received houses under Indira Awas Scheme as also those getting grant under old men’s pension schemes” said an official investigating the Narada bribery case where about a dozen senior Trinamool Congress politicians including Ministers and MPs were seen accepting wads of currency notes — allegedly in lieu of future favour — from a sting journalist posing as a prospective investor in the State.
“Can the Centre guarantee a full proof measure to stop benami transaction through Aadhaar linking,” asked a senior official of the law Ministry adding though it would be lot more easier for the investigators to track the benami owners.
Meanwhile, in a related development the Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday subjected Trinamool Congress MP Kakoli Ghoshdastidar to 4-hours intense grilling in the Narada case. Enforcement Directorate sources said the Barasat MP was asked questions as to how she met Mathew Samuel the Narada CEO and for what purpose she took money from him.
The whole session was recorded it was said.