According to a document by the Association for Democratic Reforms, the average number of years a case against a member of Parliament or a member of Legislative Assembly is pending is seven years. Vicky Nanjappa reports
This is interesting, since the Supreme Court has recently directed that criminal cases against MPs and MLAs should be completed within a year from the date of framing of charges by the trial court.The ADR and the National Election Watch analysed the affidavits of the Lok Sabha MPs elected in 2009.
Out of the 162 MPs that have criminal cases, 76 have serious criminal cases such as murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and robbery.
Lok Sabha MPs with criminal cases: 162 Lok Sabha MPs out of 543 have declared criminal cases against themselves.
Lok Sabha MPs with serious criminal cases: 76 Lok Sabha MPs have declared serious criminal cases against themselves including murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and robbery etc.
Party-wise MPs with multiple serious Indian Penal Code count: 162 Lok Sabha MPs have declared a total of 306 serious cases. The MPs of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha have declared 69 serious IPC counts, followed by Bharatiya Janata Party MPs who have declared a total of 55 serious counts, Samajwadi Party MPs with 34 serious counts and Indian National Congress MPs with 30 serious counts.
MPs with multiple serious IPC counts: Kameshwar Baitha of the JMM from Palamau constituency, Jharkhand has declared 69 counts of serious cases, followed by Jagdis Sharma of the Janata Dal-United from Jahanabad constituency, Bihar with 17 serious counts
Sivasami C of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam from the Tiruppur constituency, Tamil Nadu has 15 counts of serious cases, and Bal Kumar Patel of the SP from Mirzapur has 14 counts of serious cases.
Those with criminal cases who got tickets for the second time: 24 Lok Sabha MPs were re-elected winners and had criminal cases in 2009. They also had criminal cases during the 2004 Lok Sabha which they won. This shows that political parties continue to give tickets to candidates despite the fact that they have criminal cases pending against them.
Analysis of criminal cases pending for 10 years and more
Criminal cases pending for 10 years or more: 50 Lok Sabha MPs from 2009 have a total of 136 criminal cases pending against them for 10 years or more.
Serious criminal cases pending for 10 years or more: 30 Lok Sabha MPs have a total of 58 serious criminal cases pending against them for 10 years or more.
Average number of years cases of murder have been pending: There are five Lok Sabha MPs who have declared a total of 14 cases of murder which have been pending for 10 years or more.
Kameshwar Baitha of the JMM has declared 10 cases of murder, pending for an average of 12 years. Guddu Premchand of the INC from the Ujjain constituency, Madhya Pradesh has declared a case of murder which has been pending for the longest -- 29 years.
Average number of years cases of attempt to murder have been pending: There are nine Lok Sabha MPs who have declared a total of 14 cases of attempt to murder pending for more than 10 years.
Baitha has declared 6 cases of attempt to murder pending for an average of 11 years. Venugopala Reddy Modugula of the Telugu Desam Party from Narasaraopet constituency has declared a case of attempt to murder which has been pending for the longest -- 23 years.
Average number of years cases of kidnapping and wrongful confinement pending: There are 20 Lok Sabha MPs who have declared a total of 30 cases of kidnapping and wrongful confinement, pending for 10 years or more.
Baitha has declared 7 cases of kidnapping and wrongful confinement pending for an average of 14 years. Kalmadi Suresh of the INC from Pune constituency has declared a case of wrongful confinement for three or more days, pending for 28 years.
Average number of years cases of robbery and dacoity pending: There are four Lok Sabha MPs who have declared a total of four cases of robbery and dacoity pending for more than 10 years.
Ramkishun of the SP from the Chandauli constituency has declared a case of robbery, pending for 24 years.
