10-08-2006, 04:38 PM
<!--emo&:devil--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/devilsmiley.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='devilsmiley.gif' /><!--endemo--> Crores in its coffer, RVP is a political party and a detective agency too
Santwana Bhattacharya Posted online: Sunday, October 08, 2006 at 0000 hrs Print Email597 registered parties havenât contested elections, EC suspects tax evasion, money-laundering racketNEW DELHI, OCTOBER 7:The search for the national headquarters of the Rashtriya Vikas Party will take you to the office of SPIS Limited, a detective agency in Faridabad, just outside Delhi.
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The address isnât wrong. The RVP, one of the âpolitical partiesâ under EC scanner for suspicious money transfer, doubles up as a professional detective agency.
The Election Commission found âsuspiciousâ movement of funds into the account of the RVP and another Delhi-based outfit, Parmartha Party, and alerted the government. All donations to political parties are exempt from tax under the Income Tax and Representation of the People Act.
The RVP account shows a series of transfers â88 contributions of which 86 are from individuals varying from Rs 30,000 to Rs 10 lakh (in cash) and one company donation of Rs 40 lakh (in cash). The records became even more curious by 2005 â 270 contributions mostly from individuals amounting to lakhs of rupees and one private firm contributing Rs 2 crore in three installments.
M P Sharma, an ex-serviceman who runs the detective agency and the political party, insists that his is a genuine outfit with national ambitions. Sharma, who took early retirement from the Indian Air Force, says his party is the political arm of the Hindu Rashtriya Sangh.
He is not worried about the probe into the donations. He says: âWe need a minimum Rs 200 crore and weâll raise it and more. It is needed to remove the present political system.â
The other Delhi party that the EC found engaging in suspicious money transfers, Parmartha Party, has already moved out of its registered office, F-27, Kamala Nagar. Records of contributions received by the party showed that one private firm contributed Rs 90 lakh to it in 2003-04 and Rs 25 lakh in 2004-05. Inquiries reveal it shut shop one year and a half ago and thereâs no trace of its office-bearers. The RVP and Parmartha are just two of the 597 political outfits that got themselves registered with the Election Commission as âunrecognized political partiesââ but did not contest any elections.
Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami wrote on July 31 to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the suspicious âdonationsâ made to little-known unrecognized political parties and wanted them âexaminedâ by the Finance Ministry and CBDT. The Prime Minister has forwarded the letter to the finance ministry.
Earlier, the Election Commission on March 3 sent a detailed note on its finding to the Law Ministry suggesting amendment to the Representation of the People Act to plug the loophole in the law that allows tax exemption to any political outfit registered with the EC and the donor.
The EC has no provision with which it can either withdraw/ cancel registration of a political party even if it has become inactive or defunct or are found to be indulging in serious financial irregularities.
In the note to the ministry, the EC mentioned the RVP and Parmartha_ âthe cases mentioned above seem to indicate incidents of misuse of the provisions of law by way of Tax evasion.ââ
The Commission suggested that when âconcessions are provided to political parties under the law in terms of exemption from income tax, there should be sufficient safeguards to prevent misuse.â
The Law Ministry has not got back to the EC yet. Refusing to comment on the ECâs letter, Secretary, Legislative Department, K.N, Chaturvedi said more time was needed (to look into it).
editor@expressindia.com
Santwana Bhattacharya Posted online: Sunday, October 08, 2006 at 0000 hrs Print Email597 registered parties havenât contested elections, EC suspects tax evasion, money-laundering racketNEW DELHI, OCTOBER 7:The search for the national headquarters of the Rashtriya Vikas Party will take you to the office of SPIS Limited, a detective agency in Faridabad, just outside Delhi.
Related Stories Harish Dogra back, given show-cause notice
No say for Fernandes on office-of-profit Bill
Where have all the student leaders gone?
Voting Lines Now Open
The address isnât wrong. The RVP, one of the âpolitical partiesâ under EC scanner for suspicious money transfer, doubles up as a professional detective agency.
The Election Commission found âsuspiciousâ movement of funds into the account of the RVP and another Delhi-based outfit, Parmartha Party, and alerted the government. All donations to political parties are exempt from tax under the Income Tax and Representation of the People Act.
The RVP account shows a series of transfers â88 contributions of which 86 are from individuals varying from Rs 30,000 to Rs 10 lakh (in cash) and one company donation of Rs 40 lakh (in cash). The records became even more curious by 2005 â 270 contributions mostly from individuals amounting to lakhs of rupees and one private firm contributing Rs 2 crore in three installments.
M P Sharma, an ex-serviceman who runs the detective agency and the political party, insists that his is a genuine outfit with national ambitions. Sharma, who took early retirement from the Indian Air Force, says his party is the political arm of the Hindu Rashtriya Sangh.
He is not worried about the probe into the donations. He says: âWe need a minimum Rs 200 crore and weâll raise it and more. It is needed to remove the present political system.â
The other Delhi party that the EC found engaging in suspicious money transfers, Parmartha Party, has already moved out of its registered office, F-27, Kamala Nagar. Records of contributions received by the party showed that one private firm contributed Rs 90 lakh to it in 2003-04 and Rs 25 lakh in 2004-05. Inquiries reveal it shut shop one year and a half ago and thereâs no trace of its office-bearers. The RVP and Parmartha are just two of the 597 political outfits that got themselves registered with the Election Commission as âunrecognized political partiesââ but did not contest any elections.
Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami wrote on July 31 to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the suspicious âdonationsâ made to little-known unrecognized political parties and wanted them âexaminedâ by the Finance Ministry and CBDT. The Prime Minister has forwarded the letter to the finance ministry.
Earlier, the Election Commission on March 3 sent a detailed note on its finding to the Law Ministry suggesting amendment to the Representation of the People Act to plug the loophole in the law that allows tax exemption to any political outfit registered with the EC and the donor.
The EC has no provision with which it can either withdraw/ cancel registration of a political party even if it has become inactive or defunct or are found to be indulging in serious financial irregularities.
In the note to the ministry, the EC mentioned the RVP and Parmartha_ âthe cases mentioned above seem to indicate incidents of misuse of the provisions of law by way of Tax evasion.ââ
The Commission suggested that when âconcessions are provided to political parties under the law in terms of exemption from income tax, there should be sufficient safeguards to prevent misuse.â
The Law Ministry has not got back to the EC yet. Refusing to comment on the ECâs letter, Secretary, Legislative Department, K.N, Chaturvedi said more time was needed (to look into it).
editor@expressindia.com