Supreme Court holds 8 political parties guilty of contempt of court, imposes hefty fines

In a big move, the Supreme Court, on Tuesday, imposed fines on eight political parties for failing to comply with its order, which stated that parties should disclose details of the candidates with criminal backgrounds on their official websites. However, the political parties failed to do so during the 2020 Bihar Assembly Elections. 

The parties held guilty include Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal, Lok Janshakti Party, Indian National Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Nationalist Congress Party and the Communist Party of India. While CPI(M) and NCP have been fined Rs 5 lakh each, all the other parties have been imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh each. They have to pay their fine within four weeks.

The parties violated the Supreme Court's order to publicise the criminal history of their candidates in newspapers, social media and their respective websites. Though the JD(U), LJP, BJP, CPI, INC and RJD published the news in low circulation papers; CPI(M) and NCP did not follow the judgment.

On February 13, 2020, the Supreme Court, in its judgement, had allowed the parties to publish the details within 48 hours of the selection or not less than two weeks before the first date of filing of nominations. However, on Tuesday (August 10), the court changed its order. It made it mandatory for all the parties to declare and publicise the candidates' information within 48 hours of their selection.
 

• Supreme Court
• BJP
• Congress
• JD(U)