ADR report: 47% of Indian ministers face criminal cases, many with serious charges and huge assets.
New Delhi: Nearly 47 per cent of ministers in the country have declared criminal cases against themselves, including serious offences such as murder, kidnapping and crimes against women, according to an analysis by poll rights body Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The report comes days after the Centre introduced three bills seeking the removal of prime minister, chief ministers and ministers arrested or detained for 30 consecutive days on serious criminal charges carrying punishment of five years or more.
Scale of cases across parties
ADR examined self-sworn affidavits of 643 ministers from 27 state assemblies, three Union Territories and the Union Council of Ministers. It found that 302 ministers, or 47 per cent, have criminal cases against them, with 174 facing serious charges.
Of 336 BJP ministers, 136 (40 per cent) declared criminal cases, and 88 (26 per cent) face serious charges. The Congress, in power in four states, had 45 ministers (74 per cent) with criminal cases, including 18 (30 per cent) with serious offences.
Among other parties, 27 of 31 DMK ministers (87 per cent) face criminal charges, with 14 (45 per cent) booked in serious cases. The Trinamool Congress had 13 of its 40 ministers (33 per cent) with criminal cases, including 8 (20 per cent) with serious charges.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) recorded the highest proportion, with 22 of 23 ministers (96 per cent) facing criminal cases and 13 (57 per cent) booked for serious offences. In AAP, 11 of 16 ministers (69 per cent) face criminal cases, while five (31 per cent) face serious ones.
At the national level, 29 of the 72 Union ministers (40 per cent) declared criminal cases.
State-wise picture
Eleven assemblies – Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Puducherry – have more than 60 per cent of ministers facing criminal cases.
In contrast, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland and Uttarakhand reported no ministers with criminal cases.
Ministers’ financial assets
ADR also analysed the financial assets of ministers. On average, ministers declared assets of Rs 37.21 crore, with the combined wealth of 643 ministers reaching Rs 23,929 crore.
Of the 30 assemblies, 11 have billionaire ministers. Karnataka leads with eight, followed by Andhra Pradesh with six and Maharashtra with four. Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana and Telangana have two each, while Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab have one each.
In the Union Council, six of the 72 ministers (eight per cent) are billionaires.
Party-wise distribution of wealth
The BJP had 14 billionaire ministers, about 4 per cent of its total, while the Congress had 11 of 61 ministers (18 per cent) in this category. The TDP had six billionaire ministers among its 23 (26 per cent). The Aam Aadmi Party, Janasena Party, JD(S), NCP and Shiv Sena also have billionaire ministers.
Richest and poorest ministers
The richest minister is Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani of the TDP, representing Guntur in the Lok Sabha, with assets worth over Rs 5,705 crore. He is followed by Karnataka Congress leader and minister D K Shivakumar with assets exceeding Rs 1,413 crore, and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu with Rs 931 crore.
Others in the top 10 include Narayana Ponguru and Nara Lokesh from Andhra Pradesh, Gaddam Vivekanand and Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy from Telangana, Suresha B S from Karnataka, Mangal Prabhat Lodha from Maharashtra and Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.
At the other end, some ministers declared modest assets. Sukla Charan Noatia of the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura reported assets worth just Rs 2 lakh, while West Bengal minister Birbaha Hansda of the Trinamool Congress declared little over Rs 3 lakh.
Note on affidavits
ADR clarified that the status of the criminal cases cited in the affidavits may have changed since they were filed with the Election Commission during polls between 2020 and 2025.