In response to a PIL filed by Public Interest Foundation, the Supreme Court on 10th March, 2014 directed that the criminal cases against MPs and MLAs should be completed within a year from the date of framing of charges by the trial court. Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW) analysed the affidavits of the Lok Sabha MPs elected in 2009.
The following report analyses the duration of time in years for which the criminal cases against Lok Sabha MPs have been pending in a court of law.
Out of the 162 MPs that have criminal cases against themselves, 76 have serious criminal cases like murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and robbery against themselves. As the analysis below will show, some of these cases against the MPs have remained pending for ten years and more.
The following analysis contains only those cases for which the MP has provided the start date(s) of case(s). While filing the details of the self declared cases, most of the candidates contesting the elections do not provide the relevant dates of the cases such as FIR Dates, Date of Filing of Charge Sheets, Date of Convictions etc.
The current status of these cases are not known, we have simply taken these cases from the affidavit declarations of the MPs and calculated the time period (in years) for which the cases have been pending (For example- if an MP has declared in his affidavit during the Lok Sabha elections in 2009 that a case against him has been pending since 1999 then we have evaluated the pending years as only 10 and not 15)
Summary and Highlights
Lok Sabha MPs with criminal cases: 162 Lok Sabha MPs from 2009 out of 543 analysed have declared criminal cases against themselves.
Lok Sabha MPs with serious criminal cases: 76 Lok Sabha MPs have declared serious criminal cases against themselves including murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, robbery etc
Average Number of Years Criminal Cases have been Pending: The average number of years that criminal cases against MPs have been pending is 7 years (until 2009).
Serious Criminal Cases pending for the longest:
Party-wise MPs with multiple serious IPC count: 162 Lok Sabha MPs have declared a total of 306 serious IPCs against themselves. The MPs of JMM have declared 69 serious IPC counts followed by BJP MPs who have declared a total of 55 serious IPC counts, SP MPs with 34 serious IPC counts and INC MPs with 30 serious IPC counts.
MPs with multiple serious IPC count: Kameshwar Baitha of JMM from Palamau Constituency, Jharkhand has declared 69 counts of serious IPC against himself followed by Jagdis Sharma of JD(U) from Jahanabad Constituency, Bihar with 17 serious IPC counts, Sivasami C of AIADMK from Tiruppur Constituency, Tamil Nadu with 15 counts of serious IPC and Bal Kumar Patel of SP from Mirzapur with 14 counts of serious IPC.
Winners with criminal cases who got tickets for the second time: 24 Lok Sabha MPs were re-elected winners and had criminal cases in 2009. They also had criminal cases during Lok Sabha, 2004 which they won. This shows that political parties continue to give tickets to candidates despite the fact that they have criminal cases pending against them.
Analysis of Criminal Cases Pending for 10 years and more
Criminal Cases pending for ten years or more: 50 Lok Sabha MPs from 2009 have a total of 136 criminal cases pending against them for ten years or more.
Serious Criminal Cases pending for ten years or more: 30 Lok Sabha MPs have a total of 58 serious criminal cases pending against them for ten years or more.
Average Number of years Cases of Murder have been Pending: There are 5 Lok Sabha MPs who have declared a total of 14 cases of murder which have been pending for ten years or more. Kameshwar Baitha of JMM has declared 10 cases of murder against himself which have been pending for an average of 12 years. Guddu Premchand of INC from Ujjain Constituency, Madhya Pradesh has declared a case of murder which has been pending for the longest i.e. for 29 years.
Average Number of Years Cases of Attempt to Murder have been Pending: There are 9 Lok Sabha MPs who have declared a total of 14 cases of attempt to murder which have been pending for more than 10 years. Kameshwar Baitha of JMM has declared 6 cases of attempt to murder against himself which have been pending for an average of 11 years. Venugopala Reddy Modugula of TDP from Narasaraopet Constituency has declared a case of attempt to murder which has been pending for the longest i.e. for 23 years.
Average Number of Years Cases of Kidnapping and Wrongful Confinement have been Pending: There are 20 Lok Sabha MPs who have declared a total of 30 cases of kidnapping and wrongful confinement which have been pending for 10 years or more. Kameshwar Baitha of JMM has declared 7 cases of kidnapping and wrongful confinement which have been pending for an average of 14 years. Kalmadi Suresh of INC from Pune Constituency has declared a case of Wrongful confinement for three or more days which has been pending for 28 years.
Average Number of Years Cases of Robbery and Dacoity have been Pending: There are 4 Lok Sabha MPs who have declared a total of 4 cases of robbery and dacoity which have been pending for more than 10 years. Ramkishun of SP from Chandauli Constituency has declared a case of robbery which has been pending for 24 years.
Recommendations
While the judiciary has taken very important steps during decriminalizing Indian politics (including the 10th July, 2013 judgment in the case of Union of India vs Lily Thomas, where the SC debarred elected representatives from continuing in office upon conviction) political parties have continued to field candidates with serious criminal cases because of their “winnability” factor. In this scenario, the role of citizens becomes pre-eminent. The upcoming Lok Sabha elections gives us the opportunity to elect a cleaner and more accountable Parliament. The Association for Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch urges all citizens to vote for clean candidates during 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
The following report analyses the duration of time in years for which the criminal cases against Lok Sabha MPs have been pending in a court of law.
Out of the 162 MPs that have criminal cases against themselves, 76 have serious criminal cases like murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and robbery against themselves. As the analysis below will show, some of these cases against the MPs have remained pending for ten years and more.
The following analysis contains only those cases for which the MP has provided the start date(s) of case(s). While filing the details of the self declared cases, most of the candidates contesting the elections do not provide the relevant dates of the cases such as FIR Dates, Date of Filing of Charge Sheets, Date of Convictions etc.
The current status of these cases are not known, we have simply taken these cases from the affidavit declarations of the MPs and calculated the time period (in years) for which the cases have been pending (For example- if an MP has declared in his affidavit during the Lok Sabha elections in 2009 that a case against him has been pending since 1999 then we have evaluated the pending years as only 10 and not 15)
Summary and Highlights
Lok Sabha MPs with criminal cases: 162 Lok Sabha MPs from 2009 out of 543 analysed have declared criminal cases against themselves.
Lok Sabha MPs with serious criminal cases: 76 Lok Sabha MPs have declared serious criminal cases against themselves including murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, robbery etc
Average Number of Years Criminal Cases have been Pending: The average number of years that criminal cases against MPs have been pending is 7 years (until 2009).
Serious Criminal Cases pending for the longest:
Party-wise MPs with multiple serious IPC count: 162 Lok Sabha MPs have declared a total of 306 serious IPCs against themselves. The MPs of JMM have declared 69 serious IPC counts followed by BJP MPs who have declared a total of 55 serious IPC counts, SP MPs with 34 serious IPC counts and INC MPs with 30 serious IPC counts.
MPs with multiple serious IPC count: Kameshwar Baitha of JMM from Palamau Constituency, Jharkhand has declared 69 counts of serious IPC against himself followed by Jagdis Sharma of JD(U) from Jahanabad Constituency, Bihar with 17 serious IPC counts, Sivasami C of AIADMK from Tiruppur Constituency, Tamil Nadu with 15 counts of serious IPC and Bal Kumar Patel of SP from Mirzapur with 14 counts of serious IPC.
Winners with criminal cases who got tickets for the second time: 24 Lok Sabha MPs were re-elected winners and had criminal cases in 2009. They also had criminal cases during Lok Sabha, 2004 which they won. This shows that political parties continue to give tickets to candidates despite the fact that they have criminal cases pending against them.
Analysis of Criminal Cases Pending for 10 years and more
Criminal Cases pending for ten years or more: 50 Lok Sabha MPs from 2009 have a total of 136 criminal cases pending against them for ten years or more.
Serious Criminal Cases pending for ten years or more: 30 Lok Sabha MPs have a total of 58 serious criminal cases pending against them for ten years or more.
Average Number of years Cases of Murder have been Pending: There are 5 Lok Sabha MPs who have declared a total of 14 cases of murder which have been pending for ten years or more. Kameshwar Baitha of JMM has declared 10 cases of murder against himself which have been pending for an average of 12 years. Guddu Premchand of INC from Ujjain Constituency, Madhya Pradesh has declared a case of murder which has been pending for the longest i.e. for 29 years.
Average Number of Years Cases of Attempt to Murder have been Pending: There are 9 Lok Sabha MPs who have declared a total of 14 cases of attempt to murder which have been pending for more than 10 years. Kameshwar Baitha of JMM has declared 6 cases of attempt to murder against himself which have been pending for an average of 11 years. Venugopala Reddy Modugula of TDP from Narasaraopet Constituency has declared a case of attempt to murder which has been pending for the longest i.e. for 23 years.
Average Number of Years Cases of Kidnapping and Wrongful Confinement have been Pending: There are 20 Lok Sabha MPs who have declared a total of 30 cases of kidnapping and wrongful confinement which have been pending for 10 years or more. Kameshwar Baitha of JMM has declared 7 cases of kidnapping and wrongful confinement which have been pending for an average of 14 years. Kalmadi Suresh of INC from Pune Constituency has declared a case of Wrongful confinement for three or more days which has been pending for 28 years.
Average Number of Years Cases of Robbery and Dacoity have been Pending: There are 4 Lok Sabha MPs who have declared a total of 4 cases of robbery and dacoity which have been pending for more than 10 years. Ramkishun of SP from Chandauli Constituency has declared a case of robbery which has been pending for 24 years.
Recommendations
While the judiciary has taken very important steps during decriminalizing Indian politics (including the 10th July, 2013 judgment in the case of Union of India vs Lily Thomas, where the SC debarred elected representatives from continuing in office upon conviction) political parties have continued to field candidates with serious criminal cases because of their “winnability” factor. In this scenario, the role of citizens becomes pre-eminent. The upcoming Lok Sabha elections gives us the opportunity to elect a cleaner and more accountable Parliament. The Association for Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch urges all citizens to vote for clean candidates during 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
