Supreme Court clarifies meaning of criminal antecedents in student protest casesThe Supreme Court clarified that "criminal antecedents" refers only to grave and heinous offences while allowing states to withdraw FIRs against eligible student protesters. Those who had criminal antecedents… except them, everything can be taken care of,” Mehta said. He said FIRs against more than 2,700 people with antecedents involving grave and heinous offences would not be withdrawn. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi said the expression “criminal antecedents” required clarification, as students could have traffic violations, petty offences or politically motivated cases against them. And it should not be that a hardened criminal, under the garb of a student protest, is also getting protected.”