14 of 28 Chief Ministers Face Serious Criminal Cases, Supreme Court Told
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has been informed that 14 out of 28 chief ministers in the country face serious criminal cases pending against them. The disclosure was made in a report submitted by amicus curiae Vijay Hansaria in the decade-old proceedings seeking expeditious trials in criminal cases involving sitting and former Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assemblies.
The 96-page report, filed through advocate Sneha Kalita, states that the list is topped by Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, who faces 89 cases. It also names the chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Punjab, Odisha and Rajasthan, with the number of cases ranging from one to 19. The report specifies that serious criminal cases are those punishable with imprisonment of five years or more.
Data on state legislatures shows that West Bengal has the highest percentage of MLAs with serious criminal cases — 170 out of 292, or 58 per cent. Kerala follows at 57 per cent, Andhra Pradesh at 56 per cent, Telangana at 49 per cent, Jharkhand and Odisha at 45 per cent each, Bihar at 42 per cent, and Maharashtra at 40 per cent.
In the Lok Sabha, 170 MPs, or 31 per cent of the total 543 members, have serious criminal cases pending against them. Telangana has 11 of its 17 MPs facing such cases, Kerala 11 of 21, Bihar 19 of 40, Uttar Pradesh 34 of 80, Maharashtra 17 of 48, West Bengal 16 of 42, and Andhra Pradesh 9 of 25.
The report further reveals that in the Rajya Sabha, 75 of 233 members — 33 per cent — face criminal cases, of which 40 cases, or 18 per cent, are categorised as serious.
As per the report, a total of 4,192 criminal cases are pending trial against sitting and former MPs and MLAs. Uttar Pradesh accounts for the highest number at 1,171 cases.
Hansaria has requested the court to designate special courts exclusively for trials in cases against sitting and former legislators, and to direct the jurisdictional High Courts to actively monitor the progress of these trials.
The Supreme Court is hearing a petition filed in 2016 seeking speedy disposal of criminal cases against lawmakers, a matter that has seen multiple directions from the court over the years. The latest report is part of the ongoing effort to ensure accountability and timely justice in such cases.
