Notice Sent to Candidates Representing Maval Lok Sabha Constituency Regarding Discrepancies in Expenditure Records

The Election Returning Officer for Maval Lok Sabha Constituency Deepak Singla has issued a notice to one candidate for discrepancies found in their election daily expenses, along with notices to two candidates who failed to provide details of their daily expenses during the second scrutiny of the daily expenses. According to the guidelines of Election Commission of India (ECI) for General Election 2024, candidates or their authorised representatives are required to submit election expenditure registers and certificates for verification on the specified date.

In connection with the Maval Lok Sabha Constituency election, the second scrutiny of the daily expenses of the candidates was conducted at the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA), New Administrative Building on May 7.  All candidates were informed to appear on May 7 from 10 am to 5 pm at the MMRDA office in Pune for scrutiny. However, notices were issued to two candidates, Yashwant Vithal Pawar of Krantikari jai Hind Sena and Rahim Mainudin Syed from Azad Samajwadi Party, who failed to provide accounts of their daily expenses during the election. The notice states that failure to submit the expenditure register and certificates within the prescribed time for inspection may result in an offense under Section 77 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, regarding the maintenance of daily expenditure accounts.
The examination was conducted in the presence of Election Expenditure Inspector Sudhanshu Rai, supervised by Election Expenditure Inspection Head Ashwini Musale and Assistant Savita Nalavde.“Candidates are required to submit their disclosure and expense accounts within 48 hours of receiving the notice for inspection at the next scheduled session at the Election Expenses Control Room in the Office of the Electoral Returning Officer. Failure to do so may result in cancellation of permits issued for vehicles, meetings, etc., under Section 171(1) upon complaint,” said an official from Election Commission for Maval constituency.

The Election Returning Officer Deepak Singla has also issued a notice to Suhas Manohar Rane, an independent candidate regarding discrepancies found in his daily election expenditure. During the first inspection, Suhas Rane failed to provide details of his election expenses to the Expenditure Inspector. Upon examination of the daily expenditure details provided during the second inspection, it was observed that election expenses were made from his personal bank account instead of the separate account designated for election expenditure, as mandated by the Election Commission of India guidelines outlined in the Instruction Manual for Candidates 2023. The notice issued by Electoral Officer Deepak Singla requires Suhas Rane to submit the outstanding election expenses to the control room within 48 hours. Earlier, similar notices were issued to MahaYuti candidate Shrirang Barne and Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Sanjog Waghere Patil.