The Hindu : Front Page : EC seeks explanation from Finance Ministry

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Saturday, Apr 24, 2004

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Front Page

EC seeks explanation from Finance Ministry

By Our Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI, APRIL 23 .Taking a serious view of the violation of the Model Code of Conduct by the Finance Ministry, which held a press conference to announce achievements in tax collection, the Election Commission today sent a notice to the Union Cabinet Secretary, Kamal Pande, seeking an explanation from the Government for the violation.

Sources said the Commission took exception to Finance Ministry officials, including the Finance and Revenue Secretaries, holding a press briefing last week to "paint a rosy picture" of the economy, by announcing that the tax collections had grown by 18 per cent to Rs. 2,52,162 crores in 2003-04.

It was stated at the press conference that for the first time since 1995/96 the provisional annual figures of the revenue collections had exceeded the budget estimates and that for the first time the direct tax collections had crossed Rs. 1,00,000 crores.

In the perception of the Commission, such a press conference regarding the achievement of the party in power violated the Code, which had clearly stipulated that any publicity with a view to furthering the prospects of the party in power should be scrupulously avoided. The letter sent to the Cabinet Secretary, however, did not specify any time limit for getting the explanation from the Government.

Shifting orders

The Commission today asked the Chief Electoral Officer, Tamil Nadu, to shift immediately the Madurai Police Commissioner, Vijay Kumar, for alleged dereliction of duty. Sources said the decision was taken on the basis of a report sent by the special observers appointed by the Commission for the Madurai Lok Sabha constituency.

Facilities for disabled

The Commission has authorised the Association of Social Research and Action Group to monitor whether the State Governments of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi made facilities as directed by the Supreme Court, for physically challenged persons to cast their votes.

In a communication sent to the Chief Electoral Officers of the three States, the Commission has allowed eight members of the group to monitor the facilities from outside the polling stations.

The Commission today declared almost 46 per cent of the total 1.72 lakh polling booths for the April 26 Lok Sabha elections as sensitive or hyper-sensitive, with Uttar Pradesh and Bihar accounting for the maximum number of hyper-sensitive polling stations.

More than 75,000 (45.77 per cent) polling booths/stations fall in either category. While 28,119 booths were declared as hyper-sensitive, 47,499 were stated to be sensitive. The Commission wanted to ensure that additional security forces were deployed in all such booths for the conduct of free and fair elections.

According to a spokesperson of the Commission, of the 42,203 booths to be set up in Uttar Pradesh, 8,731 booths were identified as hyper- sensitive and 8,649 as sensitive.

In Bihar, of the 20,115 polling booths set up for this phase, 8,463 were declared as hyper-sensitive and 6,166 booths as sensitive.

In Orissa, of the 12,509 booths, as many as 12,197 were declared as sensitive, while no booth was identified as hyper-sensitive.

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