DNA Edit: Kanchi Singh

The Union government’s submission before the Supreme Court that it will set up 12 special courts to exclusively deal with criminal cases involving MPs and MLAs is the first step in a long journey to decriminalise Indian politics.

Indian political parties have had no qualms in striking a deal with criminals if it results in better electoral prospects. The Association of Democratic Reforms, an election watchdog, distressingly found that the chances of a candidate with criminal case or cases pending against him has a robust 13 per cent chance of winning the Lok Sabha elections while the odds of a candidate with a clean record pales in comparison at a dismal five per cent.

The NGO, in a report, revealed that an incredible 34 per cent of the candidates that were elected in 2014 face serious criminal charges, including but not limited to, rape, murder and arson. Chillingly, this percentage has been climbing  — from 24 per cent in 2004 to 30 per cent in 2009.

The Centre told the apex court that it had allocated approximately Rs 8 crore for setting up these courts and has undertaken a data collection exercise to arrive at a clearer picture on the total number of cases pending against MPs and MLAs.

Latest 2014 figures paint a grim picture. As many as 1,581 MPs and MLAs were a party in a whopping 13,500 cases. That comes to an average of 8.5 cases per legislator. These are shameful figures, and a window into how muddy the political waters are in India.

In the Himachal Pradesh elections, 18 per cent of the 338 candidates contesting for Assembly seats were battling criminal charges against them, while nine per cent were facing serious criminal charges. In fact, the BJP, which pitched 23 candidates, gets the better of other parties when it comes to fielding candidates with criminal records.

In the Lok Sabha elections, 140 out of the 426 candidates (33 per cent) of BJP contesting for a seat in Parliament were facing proceedings in a criminal case. On the other hand, 28 per cent of the Congress’s candidates, 23 per cent of the BSP and 15 per cent of the Aam Aadmi Party contestants were parties to a criminal case.

Essentially, only a handful of political parties have managed to keep themselves taint-free of this scourge. While the roots of this problem go as far back as the pre-Independence era, information immediately relevant to the current socio-political scenario stems from the N N Vohra committee report submitted in 1993. The director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), in his submission to the Vohra committee, painted a grim picture of how mafia and smuggling syndicates had entrenched themselves within the existing system.

The report gave a detailed breakdown on the patronage being extended by politicians to criminal elements in a number of states. It also highlighted that the underworld had managed to make inroads into a number of government offices as well as political circles.

In the end, the responsibility of keeping politics clean fell on the parties, and they have largely failed in upholding these norms.