31% Rajya Sabha MPs facing criminal cases, 14% have assets over Rs 100 crore
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Thirty-one percent of the Rajya Sabha MPs have declared criminal cases against them, showed a study released on Monday by the Association for Democratic Reforms.
Fourteen percent members of the Upper House of Parliament have also declare assets worth more than Rs 100 crore.
Criminal cases
Of the 230 Rajya Sabha MPs the study analysed, 72 have declared in their election affidavits criminal cases against themselves.
While the 245-member House currently has 241 MPs, the analysis does not include 11 members elected in October.
Thirty-seven or 16% of the members who were analysed have declared that they are facing serious criminal cases, the election watchdog said.
The study defines serious criminal offences as those carrying a maximum punishment of five years or more, non-bailable offences, or cases involving loss to the public exchequer.
The category also includes cases pertaining to crimes such as assault, murder, kidnapping, rape, crimes against women and offences mentioned in the Representation of the People Act. It also includes offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Thirty-one of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s 111 Rajya Sabha MPs, or 28%, have declared having criminal cases, the study showed. The number is 12 of 29, or 41%, for the Congress.
Two out of the nine, or 22%, MPs of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress faction have criminal cases. The...