During
the State Legislative Assembly Elections of Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam and
Kerala-2011, the Election Commission of India through its election expenditure
monitoring mechanism comprising of State Police and Income-tax Department of
the Government of India, had got seized the following amount suspected of being
used during the election:
Tamil Nadu: Rs.
36,54,48,569/-
Kerala: Rs.1,14,03,620/-
West Bengal: Rs.8,53,79,867/-
Assam: Rs.2,23,79,570/-
Giving this information in written
reply to a question in the Lok Sabha,
Shri Salman Khurshid,
Minister for Law & Justice, said that besides,
metal goods worth Rs. 21,62,54,842/- were seized. The cash seized has been deposited in State
Treasury or handed over to the Income-tax Department for taking necessary
action under the Income-tax Law.
Wherever unclaimed money is linked with poll offences, cases have been
registered. After verification that the
money was not meant for bribing of voters, an amount of Rs. 2,52,96,080/- and
goods worth Rs. 14,04,87,834 had been returned, the Minister informed the
House.
Shri
Khurshid further informed the Lok
Sabha that the Election Commission has stated that
the Commission has taken several election expenditure monitoring measures
during elections which inter-alia include opening of a separate bank account by
each contesting candidate for election expenditure purpose, deploying flying
squads and surveillance teams for keeping close watch over distribution of cash
or gift articles, opening 24x7 complaint monitoring system in each district,
associating Income-tax Department to keep vigil over the movement of large
amount of cash, engaging video surveillance teams for recording public rallies
and expenses on banners, posters and hoardings, appointing Expenditure
Observers and Assistance Expenditure Observers in the constituency, maintaining
Shadow Observation Register for each candidate and engaging media certification
and monitoring committee in each district to report instances of “Paid
News”. Besides, the Election Commission
has embarked upon a campaign through print and electronic media for ethical
voting, Shri Khurshid informed the House.
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KKP/sl