Publishing criminal antecedents of election candidates: Supreme Court recalls directions holding BJP guilty of contempt
"It cannot be said that it has been a case of wilful and deliberate attempt to disobey and disregard the order of this Court," the Bench said while recalling the imposition of ₹1 lakh on the party.
The Supreme Court on Monday recalled paragraphs of its 2021 judgment that had imposed ₹1 lakh fine on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for failing to comply with its directions in relation to the disclosure of details of electoral candidates with criminal background.
"It cannot be said that it has been a case of wilful and deliberate attempt to disobey and disregard the order of this Court." The Supreme Court had last month issued notice on the present plea moved by BJP General Secretary BL Santhosh, challenging the Supreme Court order finding the party guilty of contempt of court.
The BJP had been fined a sum of ₹1 lakh, after the then bench of Justices Rohinton Fali Nariman (now retired) and BR Gavai noted that the party had published criminal antecedents of its candidates in newspapers of low circulation. This was contrary to the directions of the Court passed in an order dated February 13, 2020.
In the 2021 order, the Indian National Congress, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Janata Dal United, the Communist Party of India and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) were also fined ₹ 1 lakh, for partial non-compliance.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) were found to be in total non-compliance and fined ₹ 5 lakh each.
The parties had accordingly been found guilty of contempt of the Court's earlier directions in the matter, specifically with respect to the 2021 Bihar Legislative Assembly elections.
