Not just ‘substantial amounts’, even bank transactions involving an amount exceeding Rs. 1 lakh related to the bank account of candidates, their spouses, dependents, or political parties will be monitored by the Chief Electoral Office in the run-up to the Assembly elections.
The CEO, Delhi, at a meeting with State-level and district-level nodal officers of banks in the Capital issued instructions to start monitoring unusual and suspicious cash withdrawals and deposits in banks on a regular basis as per the instructions and guidelines of the Election Commission of India in this regard.
“The banks shall monitor unusual and suspicious cash withdrawals or deposits of cash in bank accounts exceeding Rs. 10 lakh during the election process. Banks shall also monitor unusual transfer of amount by RTGS from one bank account to several persons.
All deposits of cash or withdrawals of cash exceeding Rs. 1 lakh from bank account of candidates shall also be monitored regularly,” the CEOsaid in a statement.
Banks had been instructed to ensure that the cash vans carrying banks’ cash shall not carry cash of any third party and these cash vans shall carry due authorisation from the banks.
The banks had also been told to facilitate candidates to open new bank accounts exclusively for the purpose of election expenditure.
“All district-level nodal officers shall submit daily reports in these cases to the District Election Officer concerned by 7 p.m. every day for analysis and taking further action as per law. The matter involving cash exceeding Rs. 10 lakh shall be referred to the Income Tax Department promptly,” the statement added.
