EC bars 7 Punjab candidates from contesting polls for 3 yrs

The Election Commission has disqualified seven candidates from contesting elections for a period of three years after they failed to submit an account of election expenses for the Lok Sabha polls last year.
Candidates are required to submit an account of election expenses as required by the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and Rules, a spokesman said here.
He said Ajay Kumar Bhagat and Tarsem Peter from Jalandhar constituency, Akshayabar Nath Mishra and Simrejit Singh (Ludhiana), Gurdeep Singh, Gurpreet Singh and Joti Devaji Ansui (Sangrur) were asked to give reasons for not abiding by the rule of submitting poll expenses but they failed to submit a reply even after being served the due notice by the EC.

Mishra had contested on JD(U) ticket while Gurdeep Singh and Gurpreet Singh represented Democratic Bharti Samaj Party (DBSP) and CPI(ML), respectively. Four others had contested the Lok Sabha polls as Independent candidates.
The spokesman said in pursuance of Section 10 A of the Act, the Commission declared the persons disqualified for being chosen as a member of either House of Parliament or of the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council of a State for a period of three years from the date of issuance of this order.