ADR and Gujarat Election Watch support ECI's order on seizing of excess cash during elections (15 reported seizures so far)
Unaccounted Cash seizures MUST to tackle the menace of money in elections
Ahmedabad/New Delhi: Association
for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a citizen led non-political and
non-partisan NGO, along with Gujarat Election Watch(GEW) a chapter of
National Election Watch (NEW), which is a campaign of more than 1200
organizations across India, have been working in the area of the
electoral and political reforms for more than a decade now. ADR and GEW
have also been actively involved in election watch in the state of
Gujarat for the upcoming elections.
ADR
and GEW have given this reaction to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL)
filed recently in the Gujarat High Court. The PIL has been filed by the
business community in Gujarat, seeking “restraint and moderation” of the
Election Commission’s order that rules the seizure of cash beyond Rs.
2.5 lakh in transit unless the money has been appropriately accounted
for. ADR reiterates that legitimate business transactions based on cash
should not suffer, but supports the ECI’s measure to seize unaccounted
for cash.
ADR
and NEW unequivocally support this ECI’s order that directs citizens to
not to travel with more than Rs 2.5 lakh in cash. We consider this as a
critically important instrument in the ECI’s Election Expenditure
Monitoring Mechanism that aims to tackle head-on the alarmingly
increasing menace of money power in elections. Ever since the model code
of conduct came into application, there are news reports that EC's
Static Surveillance Team (SST) in Gujarat have already seized more than
Rs 10 crore of unaccounted cash in three cases alone viz Rs 9.30 crore
in a van in Mehsana, Rs 5 lakh in Sabarkantha and Rs 70 lakh from
Vijaypur taluka on Himmatnagar-Mehsana road. Earlier, in 12 cases SST
intercepted cash of Rs 1.43 crore out of which Rs 1.41 crore was
returned as it was accounted legal money.
The
efficacy of the cash seizure methods has been proved in several
elections in last two years, since the time ECI has started implementing
these expense monitoring measures in the elections. There have been
record cases of cash seizures across almost all states during elections.
The news reports of cash seizures by ECI in Andhra by-polls earlier
this year stands at more than Rs 41 crore. The corresponding figures for
Tamil Nadu assembly elections in 2011 and UP assembly elections 2012
are Rs 60 crore and 30 crore, respectively.
In
2009 Lok Sabha elections, more than Rs 100 crore was confiscated by
ECI. These are astronomical sums of money and by most estimates just
the tip of the amount that actually is in circulation during elections
major fraction of which is black money procured through illegal hawala
transactions.
This
huge amount of money spent in elections requires a very wide-spread web
of monitoring mechanism and this ECI’s order of not allowing people to
travel with more than Rs. 2.5 lakh is an extremely correct step in the
right direction. Specifically with respect to the present Gujarat
Assembly Elections that are to be held in Dec 2012, the elections fall
in festive season and not much should be left to imagination if we
consider how this atmosphere can be exploited by candidates if certain
strategic and effective steps are not taken to monitor and check the
election-expenses.
A
case of similar nature also came up before Madras High Court during the
Tamil Nadu assembly elections of 2011 when the court took the suo motu cognizance
of various newspaper reports in which some political party leads had
complained about various similar restrictions imposed by EC. The court
had declined to curb the powers of ECI to prevent distribution of money
to voters and also directed that the standard procedures for dealing
with unaccounted cash and other valuables be followed.
Even
the white paper of the UPA govt has also recommended in para 6.13 that
existing laws should be amended to regulate the possession and
transportation of cash. The paper also prescribes putting a limitation
on cash holding for private use and confiscation of cash held beyond
prescribed limits. ADR and GEW also appeal to all political parties that
they ask their candidates to keep their expenses in limit, so that the
elections take place in a free and fair manner and the influence of
money power is reduced in the elections.
Web-links of press reports about cash seizures
Regards,
| Journalist Helpline: +91-8010394248 adr@adrindia.org |
Prof Jagdeep Chhokar IIM Ahmedabad (Retd.) Founder Member National Election Watch, Association for Democratic Reforms +919999620944 jchhokar@gmail.com |
Prof Trilochan Sastry IIM Bangalore Founder Member, National Election Watch, Association for Democratic Reforms +919448353285, trilochans@iimb.ernet.in |
Mr. Anil Bairwal, National Coordinator National Election Watch, and Association for Democratic Reforms 011 4081 7601, +91 9999310100 adr@adrIndia.org, anil@adrIndia.org |
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