Final Cover Election Expenditure - Election Commission of India

Annexure-33Election Commission's Letter No. 76/98/J.S. II dated 30.10.1998 addressed to CEOs of all States and UTs.Subject: Daily accounts of election expenditure to be maintained by contesting candidates inprescribed Register - submission to the officers/Expenditure Observers for scrutiny -compliance -regardingI am directed to state that as a measures to curb and keep a check on the tendency towards excessiveexpenditure in electioneering, the Commission has devised a Register containing a detailed proformathat is to be filled up and maintained on a continuous day-to-day basis by all contesting candidateson their electioneering campaigns. Vide Commission's letter No.76/98/JS-II dated 19.1.1998 it has beendirected that the District Election Officer should nominate/designate officers located within the district,before whom a contesting candidate should produce periodically the Register of his day-today electionexpenses account, for the purposes of inspection and scrutiny. Reacting to the views expressed bysome political parties, the Commission had further issued instructions vide the above letter that though theaccounts of election expenses are to be maintained on daily basis, the same need be submitted to thedesignated officer for the purpose of inspection and scrutiny only once in three days.2. It has come to the notice of the Commission that in some instances certain candidates have notcared to show the Registers of their daily election expenses to the designated officers, oreven the Observers appointed by the Commission despite the same having been asked fromthem.3. Obviously it raises a reasonable presumption that the accounts of expenses are not beingmaintained on a daily basis as required under the law, in these cases, but are being prepared afterthe election process is over in a manner which does not give a true account of the expensesthat were indeed incurred by the candidate. The Commission, therefore, directs that where acandidate does not produce the Register containing his daily account of election expenses,before the designated officer/ Observer, despite notice, the District Election Officer shall cause acomplaint to be lodged under Section 171 -I of Indian Penal Code against the errant candidates.4. In addition to this, the fact whether a candidate has submitted the Register showing his dailyaccount of expenditure to the designated officer/Expenditure Observer, for his scrutiny ontimely basis and whether any action has been taken against any candidate for noncompliancein this respect should be explicitly mentioned in the remarks column of thereport that the District Election Officer furnishes to the Commission under Rule 89 (1) of theConduct of Election Rules, 1961 (Annexure XLIX to Returning Officers Handbook) to the effectwhether the candidates have filed their returns of expenditure on elections or not.This may be brought to the notice of all concerned, particularly the contesting candidates sothat they are well aware of the penal consequences that they may have to suffer if they do notfurnish the Registers showing their election expenses to the designated officer/Observers at theappropriate time.140