#CobrapostInvestigation: 194 politicians faked their PAN card details to EC
What's the story
Investigative portal, Cobrapost, in its latest revelation, reported that as many as 194 Indian politicians, including 6 former Chief Ministers and 10 sitting Ministers, have faked their PAN details to the Election Commission.
In about 2,000 affidavits sworn before the Election Commission of India (ECI) for fighting elections between 2006 and 2016, Cobrapost found that either of the two different PANs quoted is non-existent.
The report
Falsification of PAN mostly done by changing a digit
The investigation reveals, "The falsification of PAN details, in most cases, has been done by changing a digit, probably to look like the original one, and perhaps to take the defense that is an intentional typo."
The report also suggests the falsification is a ruse to hide the exponential rise in the politicians' incomes, by not so legit means and to evade taxes.
Names
The investigation also revealed some big names
The investigation has also revealed some big names in the list that includes former Assam Chief Ministers Tarun Gogoi and Bhumidhar Barman, former Chief Minister of Bihar Jitan Ram Manjhi, and former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Virbhadra Singh.
It notes, "Five-time BJP MLA and four-time Minister Kishan Kapoor from Himachal Pradesh has the most curious case out of all."
About
The curious case of Kishan Kapoor
The five-time BJP MLA Kishan Kapoor from Himachal Pradesh quoted his PAN as AFYPK8382G while filing the affidavit declaring his income and assets before the 2007 state Assembly elections.
But in the next Assembly elections, he quoted a different PAN AFUPK8382G, which is found to be non-existent, the report stated.
The senior BJP leader is accused of fraud and criminal behavior.
Political parties
Out of the 194 politicians, 72 are from Congress
Of the 194 lawmakers named by Cobrapost, 72 are from the Congress while 41 are from the BJP.
The list features names from other prominent political parties including, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Janata Dal (United), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and Hindustani Awami Morcha (S).
The post also suggests that there's a direct relation between this falsification and income growth of many politicians.