The Centre, in an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court in 2018, said that the states like Bihar, Kerala, Delhi, West Bengal and, Karnataka have high pendency of cases against legislators.
With the cost of contesting elections increasing over the years, the nexus of politics and crime has grown. More and more candidates having criminal cases pending against them have entered into politics, spending hefty sums of money and muscle power. Once they get elected, the authorities concerned hesitate to bring them to book. If available data are to be believed, the number of legislators having cases pending against them have increased since 2004.
No. of politicians involved in criminal cases have risen: Study
According to an analysis by orfoline, there were 60 Members of Parliament having serious criminal cases pending against them in 2004. This number increased to 86 and 115 in 2009 and 2014 respectively. The percentage of legislatures having serious criminal cases pending against them saw a rise from 12 per cent in 2004 to 21 per cent in 2014.
Even the local bodies in the country have seen a sharp rise in the number of candidates having involvement in criminal cases. A study by the Association for Democratic Reform (ADR) says that 17 per cent and 21 per cent municipal corporators in Mumbai and Delhi respectively have declared involvement in the criminal cases.
In another study the ADR says, between 2013-2018, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gave 47 tickets to candidates with declared cases of crime against women pending against them, topping the list. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Congress grabbed the second and third spot, giving 35 and 24 tickets respectively.
Government Data
The Centre, in an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court in 2018, said that the states like Bihar, Kerala, Delhi, West Bengal and, Karnataka have high pendency of cases against MLAs and MPs. Bihar had 249 cases pending against the legislatures while Kerala and West Bengal were on the second and third spot with 233 and 226 cases respectively.
Apex Court's intervention
The governments at the Centre over the years have not tried to get rid of politicians having serious criminal cases pending against them. In a judgment in the Union of India vs Association for Democratic Reforms and another in 2002, the Supreme Court directed that candidates must declare their financial, educational and criminal background while contesting elections. The judgment did not go down well with the political parties and the Union government brought an ordinance to nullify it. Taking a strong stand, the apex court struck down the ordinance as unconstitutional.
Researcher's perspective
Milan Vaishnav, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C. in his book When Crime Pays: Money and Muscle in Indian Politics, writes about his discussion with a candidate, who was campaigning for the state election. During the discussion, the candidate says to Vaishnav that if money is not distributed to the electorate, they will not vote for you.
Speaking at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, during a discussion on his book Vaishnav noted that 34 per cent of members of Parliament in India faces ongoing criminal cases, and 21 per cent MPs face serious cases. According to Vaishnav, criminals plunge into politics to get away with criminal cases and gain financial benefits.
