India: 25% of the members of the Lok Sabha have criminal records

The arrest of an Indian Member of Parliament on a human-trafficking attempt became a dramatic example of an issue first raised by SW India: nearly 25 per cent of the members of the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) have criminal records. SW India’s Report was quoted in International Herald Tribune Asia-Pacific, The Indian Express, Bloomberg New York, Central Chronicle, Daily News & Analysis DNA, IOL.

25% of Parliament Members of Lok Sabha are tainted

New Delhi: On April 18, BJP MP from Gujarat, Babubhai Katara, was held for trying to take a woman on his wife’s passport on a flight to Toronto. A showcause notice was issued to the MP.

On March 18, 2007, former Chhattisgarh chief minister, Ajit Jogi, was arrested by the CBI in connection with the murder of NCP treasurer Ram Avtar Jaggi. Jaggi was shot dead in June 2003.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader, Shibu Soren, was given life imprisonment for murdering his aide.

More recently, BJP MP, Navjot Singh Sidhu was awarded a suspended sentence of three years for causing the death of a man in a road rage.

The 'honorable' representatives of a billion Indians hold the dubious distinction of making criminal history - 136 MPs with criminal backgrounds iin the 14th Lok Sabha.

According to the Citizen's Report on Governance and Development - 2006, prepared by the National Social Watch Coalition, at last count nearly 25 per cent of Lok Sabha MPs had criminal cases against them.

Tainted politicians like Arun Gawli, Pappu Yadav and Sadhu Yadav, who have history of winning ballots with bullets, now rule the people and they completely ignore the report of the House Committee on Ethics which says that the members are expected to behave in a decorous and dignified manner.

Reflecting on what it termed as Parliament's "derelictions" and "progressive decline in Parliamentary behaviour and functioning," the report said: "The 14th Lok Sabha lost 26 per cent of its time in interruptions arising out of various political controversies. During the same period, the Rajya Sabha lost a total of 29 per cent of its time on corresponding issues."

Young lawmakers break more laws

Young lawmakers are more prone to breaking laws. The report points out that 30.4 per cent of MPs between 36 and 45 years, who are a part of the 14th Lok Sabha are facing criminal cases in different parts of the country.

Out of these, 18.3 per cent are facing grave charges.

The report also claims that over 50 per cent of serious criminal cases registered against MPs were mostly from UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and MP.

The charges are varied ranging from murder to rape besides extortion and even attempts to commit suicide.

HALL OF SHAME Moni Kumar Subba, a Congress MP, is accused of being a Nepali citizen, but the suspicion over his nationality has not stopped him from becoming a Congress Member of Parliament from Tezpur, Assam.

Over the years, there have been reports that Subba was, in fact, a murder convict in Nepal, and he was imprisoned from 1971 to 1973 before he escaped to India. Minister of State for Women and Child Development Renuka Choudhry has a case against her for obstructing a public servant. Railway Minister Lalu Prasad has the Fodder Scam case still pending against him. Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has been named in the Stamp scam by main accused Abdul Karim Telgi. 10 MPs were suspended by Parliament for their role in the Cash-for-Query scam last year. BJP MP from Gujarat, Babubhai Katara, was held for trying to take a woman on his wife’s passport on a flight to Toronto. A showcause notice was issued to the MP. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader, Shibu Soren, was given life imprisonment for murdering his aide. On March 18, 2007, former Chhattisgarh chief minister, Ajit Jogi, was arrested by the CBI in connection with the murder of NCP treasurer Ram Avtar Jaggi. Jaggi was shot dead in June 2003. More recently, BJP MP, Navjot Singh Sidhu was awarded a suspended sentence of three years for causing the death of a man in a road rage. A disproportionate assets case is pending against BSP supremo Mayawati.

See the Citizen's Report on Governance and Development - 2006