candidate returned to the National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies to submit to the Returning Officer concerned, a return of election expenses within 10 days from the poll of an election
ISLAMABAD, the 20th February, 2008.- Section 42(3A) of the Representation of the People Act, 1976, read with section 50 and rule 30 of the Representation of the People (Conduct of Election) Rule, 1977, requires every candidate returned to the National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies to submit to the Returning Officer concerned, a return of election expenses within 10 days from the poll of an election. Thus successful candidates would have to submit their return of election expenses with CONCERNED RETURNING OFFICERS on or before 28-02-2008.
2. 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.
3. The return should be submitted to the Returning Officer on Form No.XVIII prescribed for this purpose, alongwith an affidavit in the prescribed form (Form-XIX), duly sworn by the returned candidate. The forms prescribed for the return of election expenses are available with the Returning Officers. Typed or hand-written forms can also be used.
4. The return in the prescribed form should contain:-
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a statement of all payments made by the returned candidate together with all bills and receipts;
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a statement of all disputed claims;
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a statement of all unpaid claims, if any, and
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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
5. The election expenses of a contesting candidate for election to a seat in the National Assembly shall not exceed one million and five hundred thousand rupees and to a seat in the Provincial Assembly shall not exceed one million rupees.
6. 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 shall 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 are not required to be obtained under section 49(5) of the Act.
7. The return of election expenses and documents submitted therewith shall 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 Returning Officers shall allow inspection or issue copies thereof to any person making an application in this behalf on payment of the prescribed fees.
8. The returned candidates are hereby informed that the returns of election expenses alongwith the supporting documents are not to be filed with the Election Commission or with the offices of the Provincial Election Commissioners but only these are to be filed by due date with the Returning Officers concerned.
9. 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 ten 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.
10. All the returned candidates are, therefore, advised in their own interest, that they should take care to file the election expenses returns alongwith necessary vouchers, receipts and the affidavit with the Returning Officers within the ten days from the poll or latest by 28th February, 2008 positively. No extension of time limit for the submission of election expenses returns is permissible under the law.
11. It is further clarified that the names of returned candidates who fail to submit their return within statutory time shall not be published/notified in the official Gazette