New Delhi: In a big step towards decriminalizing politics, the Supreme Court has ordered that political parties must publish criminal records of their candidates in the public domain within 48 hours of their selection. 

Court order came after the government’s attempts to withdrawing cases against MPs and MLAs. 

During the Bihar elections, the Supreme Court ordered political parties that candidates upload the criminal cases pending against them within 48 hours of their selections or two weeks before the first date of filing nominations. Now the court has been limited the same only 48 hours. 

While hearing a petition seeking suspension of symbols of political parties that have failed to disclose criminal cases of their candidates during elections. 

Read: Criminal cases against MPs, MLAs can’t be withdrawn without HCs permission: Supreme Court

Supreme Court had also said in its earlier verdict; political parties should explain why they selected the candidates with criminal records. Parties should disclose the criminal cases of their candidates on party websites along with reasons for selecting candidates with criminal backgrounds. 

Court had also directed the ECI to implement the order of the court. The ECI had directed the parties to publish this information on candidates in leading newspapers.

Meanwhile, the CPI(M) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had given an unconditional apology to the Supreme Court for not following orders on disclosing the criminal antecedents of their candidates in the Bihar assembly polls. 

The Election Commission had submitted before the court that it would suspend the symbols of political parties if they failed to implement. ers no criminal cases against MPs, MLAs shall not be withdrawn unless the prior permission of High Courts