Former CECs welcome SC verdict on convicted MPs, MLAs, but survey says, 30 pc lawmakers face criminal cases

New Delhi, July 11: In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a convicted elected representative cannot continue in office. However, an analysis of affidavits declared by MPs and legislators shows that around 30 percent of 4,807 lawmakers have criminal cases against them, said a think-tank.The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW), in an analysis of the affidavits provided by candidates to the Election Commission of India before contesting an election, also found that 14 percent of the current MPs and legislators have "serious criminal cases" against them. According to analysis of data, 162 or 30 percent of the 543 Lok Sabha MPs have declared criminal cases against themselves, while 14 percent of the Lok Sabha MPs have declared serious criminal cases against themselves, said the think-tank in a statement here. It said 1,258 - or 31 percent - of the 4,032 sitting legislators from all state assemblies have declared criminal cases, while 15 percent of the current legislators from all state assemblies have declared serious criminal cases against themselves. The Jharkhand 2009 assembly has the highest percentage of elected representatives, 74 percent, who had declared criminal cases against themselves. The Bihar 2010 assembly has 58 percent legislators with criminal cases, while the Uttar Pradesh 2012 assembly has 47 percent.None of the legislators of the Manipur 2012 assembly have declared criminal cases against themselves.Among parties, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha has the highest number of lawmakers - 82 percent of MPs and legislators - who have declared criminal cases against themselves. The Rashtriya Janata Dal follows with 64 percent, and the Samajwadi Party with 48 percent.The Bharatiya Janata Party follows with 31 percent of MPs and legislators with criminal cases against them, while the Congress follows with 21 percent. Elaborating the numbers, it says of the 1,017 MPs and legislators from the BJP, 313 have declared criminal cases against themselves, while of the 1,433 elected representatives from the Indian National Congress, 305 have criminal cases against themselves, the statement said. Former Chief Election Commissioners of India welcomed the Supreme Court ruling that MPs, MLAs will be disqualified from the date of their conviction by any court and said it will help reform the political system in the country.M S Gill, who was Chief Election Commissioner for six years and conducted three general elections, said it will make Indian democracy "better"."I welcome the judgement of the Supreme Court because it will certainly help make the Indian democracy better," Gill told PTI, adding he had pushed for many reforms to clean up the system, including this one.Another former CEC N Gopalaswami said "it is a welcome judgment. It will define the way tickets are distributed the next time", he said.Terming it as yet another landmark judgment, another former CEC S Y Quraishi said "this judgment will have serious and far-reaching implications for cleansing India's political system."He described the Supreme Court for being the "greatest protector of India's democratic process" and said criminalisation of politics has been a serious national issue.Quraishi said the earlier Supreme Court order brought in transparency in the system making filing of affidavits of details of criminal and financial background compulsory for all candidates to cleanse the political system.Navin Chawla, another former CEC, also termed the judgment as one in the right direction that would help in cleansing the political system."This is definitely a step in the right direction," he said.Some other CEC's including T N Seshan and B B Tandon did not comment saying they had yet to go through the judgement.The Election Commission has in its reports from time to time been seeking amendment of the law for removal of the incumbent advantage to elected MPs and MLAs convicted of various offences.