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Rambabu Singh Thakur v. Sunil Arora & Ors.

Contempt Petition (Civil) · 2020 INSC 177Decided 13 Feb 2020
Contempt Petition (Civil) No. 2192 of 2018 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 536 of 2011
Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman · Justice S. Ravindra Bhat

Background

In an earlier Constitution Bench ruling (Public Interest Foundation v Union of India, 2019), the Supreme Court had directed political parties and candidates to publicly disclose candidates' pending criminal cases. A contempt petition was filed alleging these directions were being ignored, and the Court noted that the percentage of sitting Members of Parliament with pending criminal cases had risen steadily, from 24% in 2004 to 43% in 2019, with political parties offering no explanation for repeatedly fielding such candidates.

Decision Breakdown

The Court held that merely disclosing a candidate's criminal antecedents was not enough if parties faced no consequence for choosing such candidates in the first place. Exercising its constitutional powers under Articles 129 and 142, it issued fresh, more specific directions: political parties must publish on their websites detailed reasons for selecting candidates with pending criminal cases (based on qualifications and merit, not mere "winnability"), publish this in newspapers and on social media within a fixed timeframe, and report compliance to the Election Commission, with non-compliance to be treated as contempt of court.

Lesson Learnt

The Supreme Court can go beyond disclosure requirements and compel political parties to publicly justify fielding candidates with criminal cases, using contempt power as the enforcement mechanism: a reminder that transparency rules can be sharpened over time if initial compliance proves toothless.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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