Uttarakhand to bring a law for confiscation of benami property

Under fire over a sting video purportedly showing his personal secretary negotiating a bribery deal, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat has said his government will bring in a law to confiscate benami property to check corruption in public life.
In a meeting with senior officials yesterday, the chief minister ordered the Chief Secretary N Ravishankar to formulate an act in this direction, a release issued by the state government today said.
The minister has further instructed that a draft be prepared after an analysis of acts enacted in other states and the same be tabled in the upcoming Cabinet meet.

Rawat said this will be a major step towards curbing corruption in public life and under this act the state government will have the right to take over any benami property or a property acquired by earnings more than the legitimate income or property over which nobody has a lawful right.
He said that to effectively curb corruption, the act has to be effectively prepared with an added provision for the constitution of an enforcement wing.