ISLAMABAD, Oct 13: The Election Commission on Sunday asked the MNAs and MPAs-elect to file returns of their election expenses within one week.
The EC in a meeting on Sunday announced that it was decided that every elected candidate should submit his returns of election expenses to the Returning Officer concerned by Oct 20.
It said that those who would fail to submit their election expenses returns, their results would not be notified.
An EC announcement said that the Section 50 of the Representation of the People Act, 1976 required that the election expenses return shall containing the following information: (a) a statement of all payments made by him together with all bills and receipts; (b) a statement of all disputed claims; (c) a statement of all unpaid claims, if any; and (d) a statement of all moneys, securities or equivalent of money received from, or spent, by any person for the benefit of the candidate, specifying the name of every such person.
The EC explained that under the law election expenses means “any expenditure incurred before, during and after an election or payment made, whether by way of gift, loan, advance, deposit or otherwise, for the arrangements, conduct or benefit of, or in connection with, or incidental to, the election of a candidate including the expenditure on account of issuing circulars or publications, aims or objects, but does not include the security deposit required to be made, under section 13 of the Representation of the People Act, 1976.”
The return should be submitted to the Returning Officer in Form No. XVIII prescribed for this purpose, along with an affidavit in the prescribed form (Form-XIX), duly sworn by the returned candidate.
The Election Commission had fixed Rs1.5 million expenses limit for the contesting candidates of National Assembly and Rs1 million for the provincial assembly candidates.
The EC said that the forms prescribed for the return of election expenses were available with the Returning Officers. It further said that typed or hand-written forms could also be used.
It said that all vouchers should accompany the account of election expenses, duly arranged according to the date of payment and serially numbered and such serial numbers should be entered in the appropriate column of the relevant account.
It should not be necessary, while rendering account to the Returning Officer, to give particulars of the payees in regard to items of expenditure for which receipts were not required to be obtained under section 49(5) of the Act.
The return of election expenses and documents submitted therewith should be kept open to public inspection at the office of the Returning Officers for a period of one year from the date of their receipt.
The EC informed the returned candidates that the returns of election expenses along with the supporting documents were not to be filed with the Election Commission or with the offices of the Provincial Election Commissioners but only with the Returning Officers concerned.
It said that contravention of the provisions of section 49 with regard to the limit of election expenses is a “corrupt practice” within the meaning of section 78 and the failure with regard to submission of the return of election expenses within 10 days from the poll of an election to the National Assembly/Provincial Assemblies, as laid down under section 50 of the Act, is an “illegal practice” within the meaning of section 83 of the Act. In both the eventualities, the returned candidate makes himself liable to the legal penalties, which can lead to conviction.
“All the returned candidates are, therefore, advised in their own interest, that they should take care to file the election expenses returns along with necessary vouchers, receipts and the affidavit with the Returning Officers within 10 days from the poll or latest by Oct 20, 2002 positively.
No extension of time limit for the submission of election expenses returns is permissible under the law.