The income tax department’s benami prohibition unit (BPU), Hyderabad, has issued 17 provisional attachment orders covering a 282-acre land parcel located in Koheda and Omer Khan Daira villages of Abdullapurmet mandal, on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The total value of the attached properties has been pegged at ₹2,002 crore, making it one of the largest benami land actions in the region.
According to the BPU, the land transactions were prima facie benami in nature, with Incor Realty Projects identified as the benamidar, while Ravi Sanghi, former promoter of Sanghi Industries Ltd (SIL) and his family were named as the beneficial owners. The land originally belonged to SIL, a listed company, and was transferred through a layered and structured arrangement involving Incor Realty and Venkateshwara Realty.
The tax department alleged that the transaction structure was deliberately designed to conceal the true beneficial ownership of the land and to circumvent regulatory scrutiny under SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) norms. The BPU found that the land, categorised as a ‘non-core asset’, was undervalued to keep the transaction below thresholds that would have triggered mandatory approvals from the audit committee and non-promoter shareholders.
Under SEBI regulations, related-party transactions require prior approvals, disclosures and shareholder consent. The BPU alleged that these safeguards were intentionally bypassed, resulting in a misrepresentation of the identity of the buyers and effectively, an attempt to defraud minority shareholders.
In its attachment orders, the BPU observed that the case involved a 'pre-meditated conspiracy' by the erstwhile promoters of SIL to siphon off valuable corporate land assets into a private entity controlled by them, just ahead of SIL’s acquisition by another company. The investigation identified Venkateshwara Realty, a partnership firm controlled by the Sanghi family, as the actual beneficial owner of the land.
To hold and manage family investments, two private trusts Venkateshwara Investments Trust (VIT) and Venkateshwara Ventures Trust (VVT) were created. Subsequently, Veptor Projects Pvt Ltd (VPPL), a sister concern of Incor Realty, was allegedly ‘rewarded’ with a joint development agreement to develop the attached lands. The BPU noted that SIL had informed SEBI that the surplus land was being sold to a non-related party, even though it ultimately ended up with a related entity.
The scale of the action was highlighted publicly in a social media post by journalist Sudhakar Udumula, who wrote:
Undervaluation and Fund Flow Trail
The BPU found that SIL initially registered the sale of the 282-acre land parcel to Incor Realty for about ₹84 crore, deliberately keeping the consideration below 10% of the company’s turnover ₹92.80 crore to avoid triggering mandatory approvals under SEBI’s related-party transaction framework.
Investigators alleged that Incor Realty acted merely as a conduit and did not fund the transaction from its own resources. After receiving proceeds from the sale of their shares following SIL’s acquisition, the Sanghi family allegedly infused ₹245 crore into Venkateshwara Realty as capital. Venkateshwara Realty then transferred funds to Incor, which, on the same day 8 December 2023 paid SIL for the land.
After the promoters exited SIL’s management, rectification deeds were executed, revising the declared land value from ₹84 crore to ₹218 crore. The investigation also uncovered allegedly morphed photographs and back-dated valuation reports, prepared in 2024 but shown as dated 2023, to justify the revised valuations.
Benami Transaction Established
The BPU concluded that the arrangement qualifies as a benami transaction under Section 2(9)(A) of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988. While the legal title stood in Incor Realty’s name, the purchase consideration originated from Venkateshwara Realty, controlled by the Sanghi family.
Evidence, including WhatsApp communications and bank records, allegedly demonstrated that Incor paid SIL only after receiving funds from the Sanghi-controlled entity, satisfying all statutory elements of a benami transaction.
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