New Delhi: Forty percent of sitting MPs have declared criminal cases against them, with 25% of legislators being accused of serious crimes including murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and crimes against women, a new report by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) and New Election Watch (NEW) said.
The report, titled “Analysis of Sitting MPs from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha of India 2023”, was released on Tuesday (September 12).
It analyses the self-sworn affidavits of 763 sitting MPs – out of 776 seats of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha across the country – that they filed prior to contesting their last elections and subsequent by-elections.
Four seats in the Lok Sabha and one in the Rajya Sabha are vacant, while four Rajya Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir are undefined, the report said.
It added that the affidavits of one Lok Sabha MP and three Rajya Sabha MPs could not be analysed as they were not available.
40% sitting MPs have declared criminal cases
The report has found that 306 of the 763 (40%) sitting MPs analysed have declared criminal cases against themselves.
Lakshadweep leads the states and union territories with the highest proportion of MPs with criminal cases, as its lone MP has declared criminal cases against himself.
This is followed by Kerala, where 23 out of 29 MPs (79%) have criminal cases. Bihar (73%) is next with 41 of 56 MPs, followed by Maharashtra (57%) with 37 of 65 MPs, Telangana (54%) with 13 out of 24 MPs and Delhi (50%) with five out of its ten MPs having declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
The report also found that 194 of these sitting MPs (25%) have serious criminal cases, including kidnapping, murder, attempt to murder, crimes against women, etc. against them.
In terms of MPs with serious criminal cases, Lakshadweep again leads with 100%.
It is followed by Bihar (50%), where 28 of the state’s 56 MPs have serious criminal cases against them. After it come Telangana (38%) with nine out of 24 MPs, Kerala (34%) with ten out of 29 MPs, Maharashtra (34%) with 22 out of 65 MPs and Uttar Pradesh (34%) with 37 out of 108 MPs.
RJD has most number of MPs with criminal cases
The report found that the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has the highest percentage of MPs with criminal cases. Five out of six, or 83% MPs from the party, have criminal cases.
This is followed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) with 75% or six out of eight MPs, the Congress (53%) with 43 out of 81 MPs, the YSR Congress Party (YSCRP) (42%) with 13 out of 31 MPs, the Trinamool Congress (AITC) (39%) with 14 out of 36 MPs, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) (38%) with two out of eight MPs, the BJP (36%) with 139 out of 385 MPs and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) (27%) with three out of 11 MPs having criminal cases against them.
In party-wise terms of MPs with serious criminal cases, the RJD again leads with 50% or three out of its six MPs having serious criminal cases against them.
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This is followed by the YSRCP (35%) with 11 out of 31 MPs, the Congress (32%) with 26 out of 81 MPs, the NCP (25%) with two out of eight MPs, the CPI(M) (also 25%) with two out of eight MPs, the AITC (19%) with seven out of 36 MPs and the AAP (9%) with one out of 11 MPs having serious criminal cases.
The report said serious criminal cases include offences for which the maximum punishment is five years or more; if an offence is non-bailable; if it is an electoral offence (bribery, for example); offences related to loss to exchequer; offences that are assault, murder, kidnap or rape-related; offences mentioned in the Representation of the People Act (Section 8); offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act; and crimes against women.
The report said that 11 sitting MPs have declared cases relating to murder, 32 MPs have cases relating to attempt to murder and 21 MPs have cases relating to crimes against women, of which four MPs have declared cases related to rape.
Uttar Pradesh has most MPs with murder, attempt to murder cases
In terms of states, Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of MPs (three) with declared cases related to murder, followed by Assam, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh with two each, and Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra with one each.
Uttar Pradesh also has the highest number of MPs with declared cases of attempt to murder (nine). This is followed by West Bengal (eight), Bihar (four), Maharashtra (three), Madhya Pradesh and Odisha (two), and one each in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Lakshadweep and Tamil Nadu.
Crimes against women
West Bengal has the highest number of MPs (five) with declared cases related to crimes against women. This is followed by Kerala and Andhra Pradesh with three MPs each, two MPs from Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and Odisha, and one each from Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.
One MP each from Rajasthan, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal have declared cases of rape against them.
The BJP has the highest number of MPs with cases related to murder (seven), attempt to murder (24), crimes against women (ten).
Of the four MPs with rape cases against them, two are from the Congress, and one each from the BJP and YSRCP.