30 per cent Indian lawmakers have criminal cases against them

New Delhi: In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that a convicted elected representative cannot continue in office. However, an analysis of affidavits declared by MPs and legislators shows that around 30 percent of 4,807 lawmakers have criminal cases against them, said a think-tank.

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW), in an analysis of the affidavits provided by candidates to the Election Commission of India before contesting an election, also found that 14 percent of the current MPs and legislators have "serious criminal cases" against them.

According to analysis of data, 162 or 30 percent of the 543 Lok Sabha MPs have declared criminal cases against themselves, while 14 per cent of the Lok Sabha MPs have declared serious criminal cases against themselves, said the think-tank in a statement here.

It said 1,258 - or 31 per cent - of the 4,032 sitting legislators from all state assemblies have declared criminal cases, while 15 per cent of the current legislators from all state assemblies have declared serious criminal cases against themselves.

The Jharkhand 2009 assembly has the highest percentage of elected representatives, 74 per cent, who had declared criminal cases against themselves.

The Bihar 2010 assembly has 58 per cent legislators with criminal cases, while the Uttar Pradesh 2012 assembly has 47 per cent. None of the legislators of the Manipur 2012 assembly have declared criminal cases against themselves.

Among parties, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha has the highest number of lawmakers - 82 per cent of MPs and legislators - who have declared criminal cases against themselves. The Rashtriya Janata Dal follows with 64 per cent, and the Samajwadi Party with 48 per cent.

The Bharatiya Janata Party follows with 31 per cent of MPs and legislators with criminal cases against them, while the Congress follows with 21 per cent. Elaborating the numbers, it says of the 1,017 MPs and legislators from the BJP, 313 have declared criminal cases against themselves, while of the 1,433 elected representatives from the Indian National Congress, 305 have criminal cases against themselves, the statement said.