SRINAGAR, JULY 3: The Election Commission has issued notice to the newly elected MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid over disparity in his election expenditure report for the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency in Jammu and Kashmir.
Also known as Engineer Rashid, he is in jail in a terror funding case.
The election authority has sought a response from him within two days.
The notice was served by the deputy district election officer in Baramulla Tuesday, highlighting the expenditure register submitted by Rashid showed Rs 2.10 lakh, while the actual amount recorded in the shadow register maintained by observers amounted to Rs 13.78 lakh.
Rashid, incarcerated in Delhi’s Tihar Jail following his arrest by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2019 on terror funding charges, has been granted a two-hour custody parole to take oath as a Lok Sabha member on July 5. He had sought interim bail or custody parole to fulfil his parliamentary duties.
The notice requested Rashid appear himself or through a representative before the district expenditure monitoring committee within two days to address the discrepancy and ensure timely submission of the expenditure report to the Election Commission of India.
A failure to comply with election expense reporting requirements could lead to disqualification by the Election Commission under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, for a period of three years, the notice said.
Elected as an independent candidate, Rashid won the Baramulla seat by defeating National Conference leader Omar Abdullah in the recent Lok Sabha elections.
