The Election Commission has decided to go in for the verification of the details of assets and incomes given by candidates in their affidavits during the just-concluded Assembly elections in the five states.
The commission has started the process of providing the affidavits to the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department.
“Soft copies of the affidavits of most of the candidates have already been sent to the ED and the Income Tax Department,’’ said UP’s Chief Electoral Officer Umesh Sinha.
Sinha said Income Tax and ED authorities are expected to inform them of any discrepancies between the affidavits and the actual assets and income of candidates so that action could be taken under elections laws for filing false affidavits and hiding facts.
Since the candidates are expected to mention their income tax PAN in their affidavits, discrepancies can be easily detected. The two agencies can also initiate inquiries in suspected cases of disproportionate assets or money laundering.
Also, the authorities will get a chance to scrutinise the assets and income of candidates who do not pay income tax, and do not have a PAN. An EC official, reached in Delhi on the phone, said: “This for the first time when these affidavits are being given to ED. The practice is being started from Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Manipur, Punjab and Uttarakhand where Assembly elections have been held this year.”
The official said that affidavits of candidates were given to Central Board of Direct Taxes for the first time in 2004 Lok Sabha elections. “But the practice was discontinued. Now it has been started once again with ED being provided these documents for the first time,” the official added.
In the recent Assembly elections, 6,839 candidates had contested in UP, around 1,050 in Punjab, around 910 in Uttarakhand, around 210 in Goa, around 290 in Manipur.
Sinha said his office uploads the affidavits of candidates on its website in every election and any agency can access these. “But for the first time in UP when we are providing separate soft copies of affidavits to Income Tax Department and ED directly,” he added.
