India Electoral Commission issued an order dated May 25, 2022 to press for Registered Political Parties (RUPPs) to ensure proper compliance after a meeting of the Commission held under the chairmanship of Chief Electoral Commissioner Shri Rajiv Kumar and Electoral Commissioner Shri Anup Pandey. In the said order, the Chief Electoral Officers were instructed to initiate action to enforce the appropriate compliance of the RUPPs in sections 29A and 29C of RP Act 1951. Following the decision of May 25, 2022 to remove 87 non-RUPPs, in the second phase of the current work, the Commission today (June 20, 2022) has decided to remove another 111 RUPP from the register.
These 111 RUPPs, their contact address, were legally required as a registration requirement under section 29A (4); any change of address had to be reported to the ECI under section 29A (9), which they did not comply with. The CEOs reported that these RUPPs were found to be unconfirmed or issued by them, in accordance with the Commission’s order dated 25.05.2022 returned without delivery from the post office. The Commission also decided that any party affected by the incident could contact the Chief Electoral Officer / Electoral Commission within 30 days of the order and all proof of existence, other legal and regulatory compliance, including the audited annual accounts, donation report expense report, review of office managers including authorized signatories for financial transactions (including bank account).
A separate list of those RUPPs will be sent to the relevant CEOs and CBCT for the necessary action under the suspended legal framework. In addition, a reference has also been sent to the Treasury Department for the necessary legal and criminal action against the 3 RUPPs involved in major financial irregularities. A list of 1897, 2202 and 2351 RUPPs for non-submission of Donation Reports for FY 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 respectively has also been distributed to take all the following steps as per RP 1951 read with the relevant provisions of Act IT 1961. List of 66 RUPPs seeking exemption from income tax without submitting donation reports as authorized under section 29C of the Act is also shared with the Department of Finance. The project, which started on 25 May 2022, will continue to operate and will be monitored closely.
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