ACCOUNTS OF ELECTION EXPENSES

Maintenance of accounts in special registers.

Election Commission's Order No. 76/ES003/94 JSII Dated : 31st August, 1994
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Subject: Maintenance of accounts in special registers


-------------------------------------------------------ORDER

01. Sub-clause (1) of section 77 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (43 of 51) states as follows:-

"77. Account of election expenses and maximum thereof (1) Every candidate at an election shall, either by himself or by his agent, keep a separate and correct account of all expenditure in connection with the election incurred or authorised by him or his agent between the date on which he has been nominated and the date of declaration of the result thereof, both days inclusive."

0.2. Sub-rule (1) of Rule 86 of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 amplifies the particulars of account of election expenses as follows:-

"86. Particulars of account of election expenses. (1) The account of election expenses to be kept by a candidate or his agent under section 77 shall contain the following particulars in respect of each item of expenditure from day to day, namely:-

(a) the date on which the expenditure was incurred or authorised;

(b) the nature of the expenditure (as for example, travelling, postage or printing and the like);

(c) the amount of the expenditure-

(i) the amount paid;
(ii) the amount outstanding;

(d) the date of payment.

(e) the name and address of the payee;

(f) the serial number of vouchers, in case of amount paid;

(g) the serial number of bills if any, in case of amount outstanding;

(h) the name and address of the person to whom the amount outstanding is payable.

03. It is significant to note that the above quoted provisions of law and rules prescribe inter alia that a true and faithful account of all relevant expenditures will be "kept" "from day to day"

04. The Commission being deeply aware of the increasingly vitiative role of unaccounted financial resources in elections and the fragility of the existing law in curbing such vitiation, and to render the accounts of election expenses to be lodged under section 78 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 truly and comprehensively reflective of the actual expenditure, has prescribed a procedure and proforma for lodging of accounts of election expenses vide its Order No. 76/93/J.S.II dated 17th December, 1993.

05. The superchecks conducted by the Commission in pursuance of para 10.5 of the above mentioned Order dated 17th December, 1993 in a number of cases of accounts lodged by candidates at some recent election have revealed, inter alia that many candidates do not "keep" a true record of day-to-day election expenditures as specifically required by the provisions of law and rules quoted above. In some cases, the date wise details and vouchers filed in support thereof have been found to have been concocted, fabricated and put together in order to give a mere semblance of the fact that "a separate and correct account of all expenditure" was kept "from day to day".



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