The Election Commission on Monday ordered the deletion of 111 registered unrecognised political parties that it found to be “non-existent” and referred three of the parties to the Department of Revenue for legal action for “serious financial impropriety”, an EC statement said.
This was the second such action in the recent past against registered parties that have been found violating the Representation of the People Act, 1951. On May 25, the EC had deleted 87 non-existent registered unrecognised political parties.
The EC said the 111 parties in question had violated sections of the Act that required them to submit their address of communication and any change in address to the EC.
Letters returned
“CEOs have reported that these RUPPs either have been found to be non-existent on verification or the letters issued by them, in pursuance to the Commission’s order dated May 25, have returned undelivered by the postal department,” the EC said.
The EC said if any of the parties were aggrieved by its decision, they should approach the Chief Electoral Officer concerned or the EC within 30 days along with evidence of existence, year-wise annual audited accounts, contribution report, expenditure report and other required documents.
“Further, a reference has also been sent to the Department of Revenue for necessary legal and criminal action against three RUPPs involved in serious financial impropriety,” the EC said.
The commission had also sent lists of 1,897, 2,202 and 2,351 parties that had not submitted the contribution reports in financial years 2017-2018, 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 respectively for action under the RP Act and the relevant provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961. “A list of 66 RUPPs which have claimed income tax exemption without submitting contribution reports as mandated under Section 29C of the Act has also been shared with the Revenue Department,” the EC said.
