Chandigarh, November 29: Ms. Kusumjit Sidhu, Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab today presided over a workshop convened to brief officers to monitor expenditure for the forthcoming elections in the State of Punjab in which besides Deputy Commissioners from all districts, officials of the Income Tax, State Excise & Taxation, Police departments and their Nodal Officers participated.
Briefing the Officers, the Chief Electoral Officer emphasized that Static Surveillance Teams as well as Flying squads would be pressed into operation from the date of announcement of Elections and till the Elections are over. She said that these Teams would comprise officials of the Police, income Tax and Civil Authorities and these Teams would make attempts to locate and seize unaccounted cash, liquor, drugs and wealth which may be used for illegal purposes during the Elections. She said that the Teams would conduct physical checks and searches of vehicles and locations at random as well as where specific information regarding presence of unaccounted cash and wealth is received.
Giving the details of instructions for seizure of cash she said that in case cash was recovered then the IT Deptt would be informed and the cash would be handed over to them. She said that in case it is suspected that the cash was likely to be used for some illegal purpose then the same would be seized by the Police. She clarified that it was not necessary that seizure would be made only from people associated with politics. Cash may be seized from any person in case he cannot explain the source, she added.
In the meeting Standard Operating Procedures prescribed for search and seizure was explained to all the participants.
In the meeting Presentations were also made by Mr. B.K. Singh, IRS, Joint Commissioner Investigation Ludhiana and Mr. A. Venu Prasad, IAS , Commissioner, Excise and Taxation, Punjab and Mr. C.S.R. Reddy, IPS regarding the Standard Operating procedures devised by their respective Departments.
A presentation was also given by Mr. Avinash Kumar Under Secretary Election Commission of India. Presentations on New expenditure Monitoring Mechanism was given by Ms. Usha R. Sharma, IAS , Spl CEO Punjab and on Legal Provisions and Expenditure Monitoring Mechanism by Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, IAS, Joint CEO Punjab.
Emphasis was laid on the fact that all searches and seizures must be affected in a polite and courteous manner and the person from whom the cash is seized would be given an acknowledgement on the spot along with details of the person before whom he may file an Appeal, in the case.
The Chief Electoral Officer also appealed to the General Public that in case they are carrying cash above Rs. 1 Lakh and Jewellary after the announcement of elections, then they must carry sufficient proof along with it to explain it’s legal source in order to avoid such cash/wealth being seized by the Teams. A detailed appeal would be issued when the Election are announced.
