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Journalism of Courage
With reports suggesting that the Election Commissions measures to check the use of illegal and unaccounted cash during polls are inconveniencing ordinary citizens,the poll panel has partially modified the standard operating procedure (SOP) for flying squads and surveillance teams engaged in the task.
While officials can seize entire cash if it is found to have links to any political party or a candidate and if criminality is suspected,they have been told to leave alone cash up to Rs 2.5 lakh if there was no evidence of such links and if the cash is being carried with proper documents about its source and end use. Earlier,relaxation was only allowed up to Rs 1 lakh.
For amounts higher than Rs 2.5 lakh,even if no evidence is found of links to political parties or candidates,the cash will be brought to the notice of Income Tax authorities.
