New Delhi: The Election Commission has
slapped show cause notices on 15 political parties including
main opposition BJP, RJD and JD(S) for failing to furnish
details of expenses incurred by them during the last Lok Sabha
elections.
The parties have been asked to reply by April 29 to
the notices which were served on April 16, the EC said today.
The other parties which have not submitted the
statements related to poll expenses are All India Forward
Bloc, Arunachal Congress, Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers
Party, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Manipur People?s Party and Mizo
National Front.
Tamil Nadu-based Pattali Makkal Katchi, Puducherry
Munnetra Congress, Revolutionary Socialist Party, United
Democratic Party, National People?s Party and Zoram
Nationalist Party have also not complied with the EC
directive.
In the notice, the EC has asked why action should not
be taken against these parties under the provisions of the
Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order 1968.
It said if no reply is received by April 29, it would
be presumed that the parties have nothing to say in the matter
and the EC would take appropriate action against them.
The EC cited the Supreme Court judgement of 1996 which
held that the poll panel could require the political parties
to submit, for its scrutiny, the details of the expenditure
incurred by them in connection with the election of their
candidates. It reminded the parties that the details should
have been filed within a period of 90 days after the
completion of the elections.
Despite repeated reminders, the parties have not
submitted the requisite statements till date, the EC said.
So far 31 political parties have submitted their
statement of expenses to it.
-PTI
