Gurushree Minerals Pvt. Ltd Vs DCIT (Appellate Tribunal Under Safema At New Delhi)
Loan or Land Grab?- Benami Land Purchase through Driver – Tribunal Calls Gurushree Minerals’ Deal a Benami Ruse- Tribunal Confirms Attachment of 30.6 Hectares of Tribal Land Bought by Company
The Appellate Tribunal under SAFEMA, New Delhi, vide Final Order dt. 14.10.2025 in FPA-PBPT-76/RP/2024, dismissed the appeal filed by M/s Gurushree Minerals Pvt. Ltd. against the order of the Adjudicating Authority dt. 08.03.2024 under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988 (PBPTA), confirming attachment of 30.602 hectares of tribal lands located in Villages Chhitapandariya, Khamhariya & Akalsara, Tehsil Jaijaipur, District Sakti (Chhattisgarh), purchased in the names of Shri Ratan Singh (driver of the company) & his family members
The Initiating Officer (DCIT, Raipur) found that Ratan Singh, a tribal employed as a driver with a monthly salary of ₹15,000, had neither the means nor financial capacity to purchase such vast lands. Investigation revealed that the company used him & his family (all tribals) as name-lenders to bypass restrictions u/s 165 of the Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code, 1959, which prohibit sale of tribal land to non-tribals. Funds were transferred directly from the company’s accounts to Ratan Singh’s Axis Bank account, which was operated by the company itself. He admitted on oath that all purchase documents were signed on the instructions of Shri Mukesh Bansal, Director of Gurushree Minerals Pvt. Ltd., & that he neither paid nor received any consideration for the transactions
