Officials of the Income Tax (I-T) Department have initiated an operation to curb the influence of unaccounted money during the election campaign here as part of the Election Commission of India's (ECI) directive.
A team, comprising an I-T Assistant Commissioner, an I-T Officer and two Inspectors, constituted by the Director-General of I-T (Investigation, Kerala), inspected books of account and other documents in the office of a real-estate agency, near the Registrar's Office here, and a shop at Thavakkara in the town recently.
Sources in the I-T Department said the team had conducted surveys in the office of the real-estate agency and the shop under Section 133 (A) of the I-T Act as part of the drive to identify unaccounted money that could be used by candidates and political parties. The said surveys were different from searches. Under Section 133(A), the I-T authorities can survey a place or a person during business hours for inspecting books of account and other documents and to check and verify cash and other valuables. Though the section does not empower the I-T officials to seize the books of account or cash or items, they can obtain a search order under Section 132 of the Act for impounding these (cash, books of account etc), if the situation warrants.
The team would be active till the poll process is over. Airports, hotels and railway stations would be under surveillance. The I-T Department's work is in tandem with the district-level mechanism put in place to keep a watch on election-related expenditure.
The district-level committees for monitoring election expenditure had started work.
