Disclosure of Foreign Assets & ITR of 5-years are now mandatory for Lok Sabha & Assembly election contestants
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 6, 2019
The government has recently amended the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, on the insistence of the Election Commission. The amendment now makes it mandatory for candidates contesting Assembly & Lok Sabha elections to disclose their foreign assets & liabilities, IT Return information for five preceding years of the election.
Candidates planning to contest the elections for Legislative Assembly of the states or Lok Sabha have to fulfill certain criteria. They also have to submit a list of documents without which their nomination will be rejected.
The government has recently amended the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, on the insistence of the Election Commission. The amendment now makes it mandatory for candidates contesting Assembly & Lok Sabha elections to disclose their foreign assets & liabilities, IT Return information for five preceding years before the election.
Here is a look at all the documents & details to be submitted by candidates wishing to contest the State Assembly or the Lok Sabha election.
The person wishing to contest the election has to be a citizen of India and has to satisfy the following age criteria
A person must be enrolled in the current electoral roll of any of the Parliamentary Constituencies for contesting elections from a Parliamentary Constituency. For contesting elections to State Legislature, the person must be enrolled in the current electoral roll of any of the assembly constituencies within that State. There are other disqualification criteria as listed in various electoral laws.
Check List of documents to be submitted
The following check list of documents must be submitted by every contesting candidate.
Nomination Paper
The nomination paper consists of the basic details of the candidates including a photograph. It also has details of the candidate’s name in the relevant electoral roll.
The form should also have details of the proposers in that constituency
Affidavit in Form 26
The affidavit in form 26 has to be filed along with the nomination papers. The affidavit contains the following information of the candidates
The candidates are required to fill up all columns in the affidavit and no column can be left blank. If there is no information to be furnished against any item, appropriate remarks such as ‘NIL’ or ‘Not Applicable’ or ‘Not Known’ as applicable should be indicated in such column. The candidate should not leave any column blank. The Affidavit should be sworn by the candidate before an Oath Commissioner or Magistrate of first class or before a Notary Public.  Each page of the affidavit should be signed by the candidate and the affidavit should bear on each page the stamp of the Notary or Oath Commissioner or Magistrate before whom the affidavit is sworn.
In 2017, the government notified new rules that made disclosure of sources of income mandatory. In a recent judgment, the Supreme Court has issued certain guidelines for those candidates with pending criminal cases. The following are now mandatory for all contesting candidates with pending criminal cases
Every candidate at the time of filing nomination paper, should also provide details of all the liabilities to public financial institutions & the government. Earlier, an additional affidavit  also had to be filed with the ‘No Dues Certificate’ from the agencies providing electricity, water and telephone. He/she is also required to give details of rent, in case he had been in occupation of any government accommodation during the last 10 years. Now those details are included in Form 26. Hence the candidate is not required to file any additional affidavit.
Certified extract of electoral roll
In case the candidate is registered as an elector/voter in the electoral roll of a constituency different from the constituency from which he/she stands as a candidate, then a copy of electoral roll of that constituency where the name of the candidate is entered must be attached with the Nomination paper.
Form A and Form B (applicable in the case of candidates set up by political parties)
In case a candidate is put up by any political party (whether recognised or not) then the prescribed notice from the concerned Political Party  about his sponsorship in Form A and Form B, has to be submitted along with the Nomination paper. Know more about the Form B or popularly known as B-Form here.
Copy of Caste certificates (if the candidate claims to belong to SC/ST)
Candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes are required to submit documentary proof of being a SC/ST.
Security Deposit
The security deposit amount based on the election being contested should be deposited either in cash with the Returning Officer or by filing a challan in the Reserve Bank of India or a Government Treasury. The following is the amount of security deposit for various elections. A defeated candidate who fails to secure more than one sixth of the valid votes polled in the constituency will lose his security deposit and the amount would not be refunded to him.
Oath and affirmation
The candidate has to make an oath in the prescribed format as given in the 3rd Schedule of the Constitution, before the Returning Officer/Assistant Returning officer.
Featured Image: Checklist of documents