Greeva Garg–
Published on: August 11, 2021 at 10:44 IST
Supreme Court fined eight political parties guilty of contempt for not following the Apex Court’s order earlier passed on February 13, 2020.
The order passed was for disclosure of details of their candidates’ criminal backgrounds on their official websites during the Bihar Assembly Polls.
The Division Bench of Justice Rohitan Fali Nariman and Justice BR Gavai fined the political parties while they delivered the judgment on contempt petitions filed by Brajesh Singh and Manish Kumar, sought for court proceedings against leaders of the political parties as well as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) for allegedly flouting the Court’s orders in the 2020 Bihar assembly elections.
“We direct political parties, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD), Janata Dal-United, Communist Party of India (CPI) and Lok Jan Shakti Party to deposit an amount of INR 1 Lakh each in the account created by the Election Commission of India (ECI) within 8 weeks from the date of this judgment. Insofar as the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are concerned, since they have not at all complied with the directions issued by this court, we direct them to deposit an amount of INR 5 Lakh each in the aforesaid account within the aforesaid period,” the Court ordered.
However, the Court found no substance in the demand for initiating contempt action against the ECI.
The Election Commission of India had told the Court that 469 candidates having criminal antecedents were fielded by 10 political parties in the recently held Bihar Assembly Elections.
“No one can deny that the menace of criminalization in the Indian political system is growing day by day. This court, time and again, has appealed to the lawmakers, to take steps for bringing out amendments so that the involvement of persons with criminal antecedents in the polity is prohibited. All these appeals have fallen on the deaf ears. The political parties refuse to wake up from deep slumber,” the Court said.
In its order, the Court modified its February 13, 2020 order and, said that the details shall be published of the criminal cases against its candidates within 48 hours of the selection of the candidate, to follow given statutory provisions.
Click here to Read/Download the Judgement
Also Read: EC alleges Political Parties breaching Court Directions
