LUCKNOW: Two MPs from UP figure among the top eight parliamentarians against whomcriminal cases are pending for more than 20 years in the law courts, reveals an analysis done by the Association of Democratic Reforms(ADR), a non-government body working for transparency and probity in elections.
The two MPs are BJP's Ramakant Yadav from Azamgarh, and SP's Ramkishun from Chandauli. Yadav is an accused in a murder case which is pending in the court for the past 25 years. Ramkishun is accused in a robbery case pending for the past 24 years.
The ADR in association with the National Election Watch (NEW) did the analysis following the directions of the Supreme Court. The SC on Monday had directed that the criminal cases against MPs and MLAs be completed within a year from the date of framing of charges by the trial court.
The ADR and NEW analyzed the affidavits of the Lok Sabha MPselected in 2009. It found that 50 Lok Sabha MPs from 2009 have a total of 136 criminal cases pending against them for ten years or more. Similarly, 30 Lok Sabha MPs have a total of 58 serious criminal cases pending against them for ten years or more.
The study also revealed that there are five 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 Congress from Ujjain Constituency, Madhya Pradesh, has declared a case of murder which has been pending 29 years.
Further, there are nine Lok Sabha MPs who have a total of 14 cases of attempt to murder against them which have been pending for more than 10 years. Kameshwar Baitha of JMM has six cases of attempt to murder against him which have been pending for an average of 11 years. Venugopala Reddy Modugula of TDP from Narasaraopet vonstituency has a case of attempt to murder which has been pending for 23 years.
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 seven cases of kidnapping and wrongful confinement which have been pending for an average of 14 years. Kalmadi Suresh of Congress from Pune Constituency has declared a case of wrongful confinement for three or more days which has been pending for 28 years.
There are four Lok Sabha MPs who have declared a total of four cases of robbery and dacoity which have been pending for more than 10 years.
The ADR has also issued an appeal for the people: "While the judiciary has taken very important steps including July 10 2013 judgment which debarred elected representatives from continuing in office after conviction to decriminalize politics, 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 clean and more accountable MPs."
Serious criminal cases pending for the maximum duration:
29 years Murder: Guddu Premchand of Congress from Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh 28 years
Rioting and Theft: Adhikari Sisir Kumar of AITC from Kanthi, West Bengal
25 years Murder: Ramakant Yadav of BJP from Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh
24 years Attempt to Commit Robbery: Ramkishun of SP from Chandauli, Uttar Pradesh. Concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war: Gandhi Dilipkumar Mansukhlal of BJP from Ahmednagar, Maharashtra.
23 years Attempt to Murder: Venugopala Reddy Modugula of TDP from Narasaraopet, Andhra Pradesh.
20 years Murder: Kameshwar Baitha of JMM from Palamau Constituency, Jharkhand.
Attempt to Murder: Abdul Mannan Hossain of Congress from Murshidabad, West Bengal
