BJP's Harsh Vardhan has FIR against him for 'insulting woman's modesty'

Fifteen of the newly re-elected members of the legislative assembly in Delhi have declared criminal cases against their names in 2013. Out of these, 10 had declared criminal cases against them in the last assembly elections too. 

As per the election affidavit of Dr Harsh Vardhan of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is listed on the Election Commission of India website, a first information report (number 519/2013, in Madhu Vihar police station) has been filed against him under Sections 34, 323, 509 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code.

Section 509 of the IPC says:

Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman.-- Whoever, intending to insult the modesty of any woman, utters any word, makes any sound or gesture, or exhibits any object, intending that such word or sound shall be heard, or that such gesture or object shall be seen, by such woman, or intrudes upon the privacy of such woman, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.

Dr Harsh Vardhan was elected from the Krishna Nagar constituency in Delhi. His affidavit says a chargesheet is yet to be filed in the matter.

The Association for Democratic Reforms, in its report, has stated that the average asset of the 22 re-elected MLAs in Delhi in 2013 is Rs 14.22 crore --  their average assets in 2008 was Rs 3.24 crore; in other words, their assets have grown by 338 per cent in the last five years, or by Rs 10.97 crore.

Thirteen re-elected MLAs of the BJP have shown an average asset increase of 392 per cent or Rs 14.10 crore. Similarly, for eight re-elected MLAs of the Indian National Congress, the average asset increase is 237 per cent or Rs 7.20 crore.

One re-elected MLA of the Janata Dal-United has shown an average increase in assets of 164 per cent or Rs 45.89 lakh.

The maximum growth in assets has been for Sat Prakash Rana of the BJP from the Bijwasan constituency, says the ADR report. He has declared an increase of Rs 105.51 crore (1,652 per cent), ie, from Rs 6.38 crore in 2008 to Rs 111.89 crore in 2013 (he had not declared the value of two vehicles in his 2008 affidavit).

Assets of Devender Yadav of the INC from the Badli constituency have increased by Rs 20.04 crore (271 per cent), ie, from Rs 7.38 crore in 2008 to Rs 27.43 crore in 2013 (Yadav had not declared the value of two vehicles and two LIC policies in his 2008 affidavit).

Assets of Dharm Dev Solanki of the BJP from Palam constituency have risen by Rs 18.01 crore (191 per cent), from Rs 9.42 crore in 2008 to Rs 27.43 crore in 2013 (Solanki had not declared the value of two vehicles, and an LIC policy of Rs 6 lakh had not been considered in his 2008 affidavit).

Fifty-one (73 per cent) of Delhi's 70 MLAs are crorepatis, whereas in 2008 the number was 47 (69 per cent). Thirty (97 per cent) out of 31 BJP MLAs are crorepatis, while 12 (43 per cent) out of 28 MLAs of the Aam Aadmi Party are crorepatis.

There are seven crorepati MLAs from the INC and one MLA from the Shiromani Akali Dal. The only Independent MLA from Delhi is also a crorepati.

The average asset of an MLA in Delhi is Rs 10.83 crore, while in 2008, it was Rs 2.94 crore.

The average asset of a BJP MLA is Rs.12.49 crore; for the AAP it is Rs.1.82 crore and for the INC it is Rs 10.25 crore.

The top three MLAs with highest declared assets are Manjinder Singh Sirsa of the SAD from Rajouri garden constituency with declared assets of Rs.235.51 crore, followed by Sat Prakash Rana of the BJP from Bijwasan with assets worth Rs 111.89 crore and Dharm Dev Solanki of the BJP from Palam with declared assets worth Rs.27.43 crore.

Dharmender Singh Koli of the AAP from Seemapuri constituency has declared the lowest assets, worth Rs 20,800, followed by Rakhi Birla of the same party from Mangolpuri constituency with assets worth Rs 51,150 and Akhilesh Pati tripathi (also AAP) from Model Town has declared assets worth Rs 1.59 lakh.

A total of 12 MLAs have declared liabilities of Rs 1 crore and above. The top three MLAs with the highest declared liabilities are Sirsa, with declared liabilities worth Rs 32.01 crore, followed by Veena Anand of the AAP from Patel Nagar constituency with liabilities of Rs 7.60 crore, and Nand Kishore Garg of the BJP from the Trinagar constituency with declared liabilities of Rs 5.59 crore.

Asif Mohammed Khan of the INC from Okhla constituency has declared charges of attempt to murder against him, says ADR.

Three MLAs have declared crimes against women. Apart from Harsh Vardhan, Mohan Singh Bisht of the BJP from Karawal Nagar and Jai Kishan  of INC from Sultanpur Majra constituency have declared cases of assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty (IPC Section-354).