Black money in polls: EC writes to RBI

Stepping up measures to combat the flow of black money during forthcoming polls in five states, the Election Commission has written to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to ensure that banks are not "misused by unscrupulous persons" for bribing voters with cash.

The EC has written the letter to the Reserve Bank of India in the backdrop of an incident where the Income Tax department recently seized cash of Rs 12.38 crore belonging to ICICI bank at Delhi's border with Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh).

The amount, suspected not to be conforming to cash movement rules stipulated by RBI, was seized by the I-T department on the directions of the Election Commission.

"...Request you [RBI] to conduct a thorough enquiry of the case [seizure at Ghaziabad] and to ensure that the banking channel is not misused by the unscrupulous persons to carry cash to the constituency during election process, for the purpose of bribing the electors," a letter received by the RBI Deputy Governor in Mumbai from the poll body said.

Five states -- Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Manipur, Goa and Uttarakhand are going to Assembly polls in various phases, begining January 28.

The EC, in its letter, also reminded the RBI that it has earlier written to the banking regulator after it received similar complaints during the Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu.