The disclosures on donations made by the CPI(M) to the Election Commission show the comrades are in an unimpressive financial condition.
The disclosures on donations made by the CPI(M) to the Election Commission show the comrades are in an unimpressive financial condition. But according to the income-tax (I-T) returns of the CPM available with DNA, the CPM is one of the richest parties in India.
In its affidavit to the EC, the CPM disclosed it had received only Rs27.7 lakh between 2003-07. But the actual donations being received by the party run into crores of rupees. The I-T returns from 2001-02 to 2005-06 show the party received voluntary donations to the tune of Rs84.84 crore. The amount includes Rs22.82 crore it got for “election fund”.
The affidavit for 2003-04 reveals the party received Rs2 lakh in donations. But the party’s I-T returns for the financial year shows total donations received by the party was Rs18.04 crore.
Similarly in 2004-05, the affidavit to ECI states the party got Rs8.96 lakh in donations, whereas the total figure (as per I-T returns) stands at Rs24.43 crore. The next year’s affidavit to ECI gives voluntary donations as Rs5.5 lakh, but the party’s IT-returns for the fiscal puts the sum at Rs21.02 crore.
The party’s worth was Rs38.4 crore in 2001-02, but on March 31, 2006, it stood at Rs77.17 crore.
The party’s other major source of income is “levy”. The party has collected a levy of Rs53.18 crore, but it has not explained what the levy is.
A scrutiny of the party’s balance reveals glaring irregularities. In accounting, the assets and liabilities of a particular year have to be equal. But in the financial year 2005-06, the party’s assets are Rs107.88 crore and the liabilities stand at Rs107.68 crore.
An independent tax expert said, “It is not a printing error and should have been noticed
by the I-T department. In such cases the parties are issued notices and asked to explain the error.”
There is more to CPM’s balance sheets. In 2003-04, the party had bank balances to the tune of Rs35.13 crore, cash in hand around Rs1.57 crore and income from interests and dividends to the tune of Rs2.09 crore. With such assets in the pocket, no entity would need a loan. But the party has taken a short-term loan that year and also paid interest on that loan. While they have disclosed that the interest amount was Rs1.13 lakh, they have not disclosed the loan amount.
While the party in its liabilities has declared they have unpaid expenses running into crores — Rs14.42 crore in 2001-02 to Rs30.41 crore in 2005-06 — the party has not attached any documents explaining as to whom it has to pay the money. The party has also not attached any documentary proof of advances and bank balances shown in their assets.
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