District committee to dispose of cases related to seizures in elections

Jalandhar, March 20

The district administration has constituted a three-member committee to deal with cases pertaining to seizure of cash and other material by flying squad teams (FST), static surveillance teams (SST) and excise teams to strictly implement the Model Code of Conduct.

Amarjit Bains, Additional Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar, has been appointed as chairman of the committee while Aman Maini, Deputy Comptroller (Finance and Audit), and Manjit Kaur, District Treasury Officer, are its members.

As per guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI), the committee will take decisions regarding seizure and release of cash and other items confiscated during checking so as to avoid inconvenience to the general public.

Election officials said the committee would suo moto examine each case of seizure by the police, FST and SST. Upon confirming that the confiscated material was not linked with any political party or candidate, the committee would pass orders with respect to release of such seizure. They said if a person concerned presented any proof legitimatising the seizure, the committee would decide on the release of such cash or other impounded material.

Notably, as per guidelines of the ECI, cash carry limit has been fixed up to Rs 50,000 in view of the Lok Sabha elections. People carrying cash exceeding prescribed limit need to keep bank receipts or proof legitimising the money.