Criminalization of Politics

Published on 16 Jan 2025

In recent years the penetration of criminals into politics has been so rampant in India that there has been a 44% increase in the number of MPs with criminal cases pending against them between 2009 and 2023. As per ADR report 306 MPs in the Parliament have criminal cases pending against them with 25% of MPs facing charges of serious nature.

Reasons for Increasing Criminalization of Politics

• Increasing money power in politics: The criminals use their financial resources to fund election campaigns and are thus more likely to secure party tickets.

• Example: In the 2014 national election, candidates reported a median wealth of 23.8 lakhs.

• Lack of intra-party democracy: This prevents the rise of young, talented leaders to the forefront resulting in nomination of candidates with criminal backgrounds in elections.

• Example: Dynasty politics affected the rise of young leaders in Congress which led to their downfall since 2014.

• Political patronage: Many criminals receive political support in exchange for money and muscle support, leading to a strong criminal-party nexus.

• Weak enforcement of election laws: The Election Commission is not well empowered to take actions against parties who field criminals.

• Example: Election Commission does not have powers to deregister a party. The commission has only set expenditure limits upon a candidate but not over a party, which gets misused.

• Lack of awareness: People tend to elect strong influential local leaders overlooking their criminal background and education.

• Example: MK Stalin had 47 cases pending against him but it has not affected his popularity in the state.

• Weak political ethics: Ethical dimension has eroded from politics that political parties have turned into mere power-grabbing election-winning machinery with little concern for society.

Impact of Criminalization of Politics

• Political

• Impact quality of legislation: Lawbreakers becoming lawmakers undermine the quality of the laws passed by the Parliament raising concern regarding their effectiveness.

• Example: In the present cabinet, around 33 ministers have criminal cases pending against them. This questions the legitimacy of policies framed by them.

• Undermine government credibility: Increased criminal elements would reduce the trust of educated minds in politics.

• Example: Voter participation being low among educated urban youth due to their disinterest in corrupt and criminal politics.

• Concentration of power: Criminals with strong financial backgrounds would accumulate more power, preventing the rise of aspiring young leaders.

• Social

• Criminalization in the society: When criminals rule the nation, it breeds similar criminal traits in the citizens leading to increased crime rate.

• Example: In India, more than 60 lakh crimes are being recorded as per the NCRB report.

• More social disorder: Criminal politicians resort to violent means to attain their goals which can create more chaos in the society.

• Example: UP Chief Minister has 27 criminal cases against him and this affects UP’s social order making them the state with one of the highest crime rates.

• Erosion of morals: The absence of morale among the politicians would have a spillover effect on the society making them value free.

Way forward

• Supreme Court in Public Interest Foundation vs Union of India case, 2019

• Political parties must publish the criminal records of their candidates on their websites, social media handles and newspapers.

• Directed the Election Commission to come up with a framework to ensure the information on criminal records is disseminated effectively.

• Law Commission recommendation: Offences like booth capturing, rigging must itself add to disqualification.

• Legislative effort: The Parliament can bring legislation that guides the functioning of political parties with a mandate on compulsory inner-party elections to curb dynasty politics.

• Fast track court: To settle the cases pending against politicians in a faster manner.

Criminalization is a menace which undermines the ethos of Parliamentary politics. A coordinated effort from the government, judiciary, citizens and media is necessary to eliminate this threat from Indian politics.

Tags:
Polity

Keywords:
Criminalization of Politics criminal cases members of parliament Public Interest Foundation vs Union of India case money power intra-party democracy political ethics quality of legislation

Syllabus:
General Studies Paper 2

Topics:
Parliament and State Legislatures