A recent analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) claimed that around 44 per cent legislators in state assemblies across India have declared criminal cases against themselves. The analysis by ADR and National Election Watch (NEW) examined affidavits filed before contesting elections by sitting MLAs in state assemblies and union territories across the country and obtained relevant details.

The analysis includes details of a total of 4,001 MLAs out of 4,033 in 28 state assemblies and two union territories. The ADR said that 1,136 of the MLAs included in the analysis, or about 28 per cent, have declared serious criminal cases against themselves, which include charges related to murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and crimes against women. In Kerala, 95 out of 135 MLAs i.e. 70 per cent have declared criminal cases against themselves.

Similarly, 161 out of 242 MLAs (67 percent) in Bihar, 44 out of 70 MLAs (63 percent) in Delhi, 175 out of 284 MLAs (62 percent) in Maharashtra, 72 out of 118 MLAs in Telangana (61 percent) And in Tamil Nadu, 134 (60 per cent) out of 224 MLAs have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

Additionally, ADR reported that 37 out of 70 MLAs (53 percent) in Delhi, 122 out of 242 MLAs in Bihar (50 percent), 114 out of 284 MLAs in Maharashtra (40 percent), 31 out of 79 MLAs in Jharkhand (39 percent), 46 out of 118 MLAs (39 percent) in Telangana and 155 out of 403 MLAs (38 percent) in Uttar Pradesh have declared serious criminal cases against themselves. The analysis also revealed disturbing statistics related to crimes against women.

As reported in the report, a total of 114 MLAs have declared cases related to crime against women, out of which 14 have specifically declared cases related to rape (Section 376 of IPC). Apart from criminal records, the assets of the MLAs were also examined in the analysis. The average assets per MLA in the state assemblies was found to be Rs 13.63 crore.

However, the average assets of MLAs with declared criminal cases are more than Rs 16.36 crore, while the average assets of MLAs without declared criminal cases is Rs 11.45 crore. Of the 4,001 MLAs analyzed, 88 (two per cent) were found to be billionaires, with assets of more than Rs 100 crore. It is topped by Karnataka where 32 out of 223 MLAs (14 per cent) are billionaires.