Context:
A report presented to the Supreme Court reveals the surge in criminal cases against Indian parliamentarians. The data, compiled from various high courts, was presented by amicus curiae and senior advocate Vijay Hansaria to a bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Manmohan.
Key Highlights:
- Total Lok Sabha MPs: 543
- MPs with criminal cases: 251 (46%)
- MPs facing serious charges (punishable by 5+ years imprisonment): 170
State Wise Breakdown of MPs Facing Criminal Charges
- Kerala: 19 out of 20 MPs (95%) (11 face serious charges)
- Telangana: 14 out of 17 MPs (82%)
- Odisha: 16 out of 21 MPs (76%)
- Jharkhand: 10 of 14 MPs (71%)
- Tamil Nadu: 26 of 39 MPs (67%)
- Other major states: Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Bihar, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh: ~ 50% MPs have pending criminal cases.
States with Relatively Lower Criminal Cases Against MPs
- Haryana & Chhattisgarh: Only 1 MP each
- Punjab: 2 out of 13 MPs
- Assam: 3 of the 14 MP’s
- Delhi: 3 out of the 7 MPs
- Rajasthan: 4 out of 25 MPs
- Gujurat: 5 out of the 25 MPs
- MP: 9 out of the 29 MPs
Pending Criminal Cases against Legislators as on date Total cases pendency in terms of trials to be taken up against the Sitting/ Former lawmakers 4,732. No. of top pendency among states:
- Uttar Pradesh: 1,171 cases
- Odisha: 457 cases
- Bihar: 448 cases
- Maharashtra: 442 cases
- Madhya Pradesh: 326 cases
- Kerala: 315 cases
- Telangana: 313 cases
- Karnataka: 255 cases
- Tamil Nadu: 220 cases
- Jharkhand: 133 cases
- Delhi: 124 cases
Cases Under Section 144 (Prohibitory Orders) Violation
- Total cases: 863
- States with the most such cases:
- Himachal Pradesh: 307 cases
- Bihar: 175 cases
- Telangana: 112 cases
- Maharashtra: 96 cases
- Delhi: 4 cases
Challenges & Supreme Court’s Response
- Backlog in trials
- More than two decades old cases are pending as there is no provision for courts exclusively to handle such matters.
- SC order of 2023
- It ordered High Courts to constitute monitoring benches for expediting the process. Yet, many states are yet to comply.
- Challenges in trial proceeding
- Repeated adjournments Absence of the accused Overburdening of courts with judicial work Supreme Court decision: Justice Datta and Manmohan sent the case to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) for a three judge bench to consider it.
The report brings to the fore the profound entrenchment of criminalization in Indian politics, where nearly half the sitting MPs have cases registered against them. Although the Supreme Court has directed for speeding up trials, judicial inefficiencies and a lack of compliance by states ensure that the matter is still in the hands of the CJI for further action as the implications of criminal elements in governance are coming to the fore.
