In a big step towards weed out criminals from our electoral process the Supreme Court today said political parties must make criminal records of their poll candidate’s public within 48 hours of their selection.
The apex court also said criminal cases against MLAs or MPs cannot be withdrawn without approval from High Courts in order to stop state governments from misusing their powers.
The court is hearing a petition that calls for suspending the symbol of political parties that do not disclose criminal backgrounds of their candidates.
Petitions have asked for contempt against political parties for not complying with the February 2020 orders of the Supreme Court.
In an earlier ruling in February last year, the Supreme Court had said candidates must upload these details either within 48 hours of their selection or at least two weeks before the first date of filing nomination papers. That has now been limited to only 48 hours.
