India, Sept. 9 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed withdrawal of 65 criminal cases against former and sitting politicians in Himachal Pradesh on finding that none of the cases involved grave or heinous crimes.

Allowing the Himachal Pradesh government's application moved in 2024 to close the 65 cases against former and sitting MPs and MLAs, the bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant said, "None of the cases shows any grave or heinous crimes nor any remote suggestion that the accused are hardened criminals or have indulged in repeat offences,"

As the matter pertained to elected representatives, the court noted that on August 10, 2021, the top court in a case (Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay v Union of India) monitoring speed...