Quraishi, ECs declare assets “voluntarily”

First time in the country that the Election Commissioners have done so

Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi and Election Commissioners V.S. Sampath and H.S. Brahma have declared their assets “voluntarily” and the details have been updated in the Election Commission website.

This is the first time in the country that the Election Commissioners have declared their assets; there is no law that requires them to furnish the information for public consumption.

“We are doing it voluntarily as we felt that when during the election when we [the Commission] make it mandatory for the candidates/contestants to declare their assets, we — the Commissioners — could disclose our assets voluntarily,” said Mr. Quraishi to The Hindu.

Interestingly, Mr. Quraishi, who is residing in a government bungalow in Delhi, has no house of his own as his house in Gurgaon Sector-17 on a 500 square yard plot has been demolished as the building has become weak. A new building is being constructed on the plot and the value of the plot is at present Rs.1.75 crore as per HUDA circle rate. The plot was allotted in 1980 for Rs. 63,809.

Besides, Mr. Quraishi has booked two plots — at Greater Noida (350 sq.yds., value Rs.36 lakh, year 2006) and Agra (525 sq.yds., Rs. 8 lakh, 2011) — and the physical possession of both of the plots are yet to be given to him. He has made all the purchases from his savings, PF, retirement benefits and bank loans.

Mr. Sampath purchased a 436.6 sq. m. housing land for Rs. 47,009 at the posh Banjara Hills in Hyderabad in 1986. The present value of the property stood at approximately at Rs. 2 crore and fetches him an annual lease rental of Rs 7.50 lakh. He also acquired a housing plot of 418.05 sq. m. and a house built on it in 1991 at a price of Rs. 68,500 at Guttala Begumpet in Andhra Pradesh. The value of the property at present is estimated to be Rs. 95 lakh. He receives an annual income of Rs. 3.60 lakh from this property. He also got a 1957 square feet apartment for Rs. 18 lakh at Yellareddyguda in Hyderabad. The present value of this property is estimated to be Rs. 40 lakh. The property is at present vacant.

Mr. Brahma has inherited two ancestral properties — 40 bighas of agricultural land (value Rs.8 lakh) at Komalsingh village in Kokrajhar district of Assam and a house on a plot of one bigha in Gossaigaon town of the district (value Rs. 5 lakh). Besides, he has a house in Jubilee Hills of Hyderabad (present value Rs. 3.80 crore) on a plot of 1,900 square yards and the house is rented out for Rs. 1 lakh a month. This land was purchased from a cooperative housing society in 1989.