NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday recalled its 2021 order imposing a penalty of ₹1 lakh on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for not fully complying with its directions on disclosing criminal antecedents of candidates who contested the 2020 Bihar assembly elections.
A bench of justices Dinesh Maheshwari and BR Gavai allowed a review petition filed by BJP general secretary BL Santhosh and noted that there was no wilful disobedience or contempt of the court on putting out in public domain details of criminal antecedents of the candidates picked by the parties to run for public offices.
While the party was penalised in 2021 for not disclosing reasons for the selection of the tainted candidates, the review plea said that subsequent orders of the Supreme Court have clarified that it was not necessary for the parties to come out with reasons and that disclosure of antecedents was sufficient.
On Monday, the bench agreed with the principle that the court should not enter into an arena with subjective elements in the decision-making process.
It added that it is the for Parliament to take a call on debarring tainted candidates from contesting polls and that no such injunction could be issued by a court in absence of pertinent law.
In its 2021 order, besides BJP, a fine of ₹5 lakh each was imposed on the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Nationalist Congress Party, while a fine of ₹1 lakh each was imposed on the Congress, Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal, Communist Party of India and Lok Janshakti Party.
The 2021 order also underlined the need to make the right of information of a voter more effective and meaningful. It obligated political parties to upload information about their candidates with criminal backgrounds on their websites, in newspapers and on social media. The information was to include the nature of the crime, whether charges have been framed and the reasons for fielding each such candidate for elections.
The order also directed the Election Commission of India to carry out an extensive awareness campaign through social media, television advertisements, news channels, for voters to know their right to information regarding criminal antecedents of all contesting candidates.