45% of India's Chief Ministers Have Criminal Cases, ADR Report Finds
According to a recent analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), 45% of India's current Chief Ministers—14 out of 31—have criminal cases pending against them. The report, released on Monday, examines self-sworn affidavits from the last contested elections of chief ministers across states and union territories.
Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy tops the list with 89 cases, 72 of which are under serious sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including criminal intimidation, promoting enmity, and assault. West Bengal's Suvendu Adhikari follows with 29 cases, including one charge of attempt to murder and two charges of sexual harassment. Karnataka's D.K. Shivakumar has 19 cases, with charges ranging from disappearance of evidence to bribery and forgery.
Other chief ministers with criminal cases include Kerala's V.D. Satheesan (three charges of deterring a public servant from duty), Jharkhand's Hemant Soren (forgery, cheating, theft), and Andhra Pradesh's Chandrababu Naidu (attempt to murder). Eleven of the 14 chief ministers with criminal cases have been booked under serious offences such as bribery, criminal intimidation, and attempt to murder.
Notably, Tamil Nadu's C. Joseph Vijay, Odisha's Mohan Charan Majhi, and Rajasthan's Bhajan Lal Sharma have no serious offences lodged against them. While Vijay and Sharma are first-time MLAs, Majhi has been elected four times.
The report also highlights the financial status of chief ministers. D.K. Shivakumar is the richest with assets exceeding ₹1,413 crore, followed by Chandrababu Naidu (₹931 crore), C. Joseph Vijay (₹648 crore), and Pema Khandu (₹332 crore). At the lower end, Jammu and Kashmir's Omar Abdullah has assets of ₹55 lakh, Suvendu Adhikari ₹85 lakh, and Bhajan Lal Sharma ₹1 crore.
Shivakumar tops in immovable assets (₹1,140 crore), liabilities (₹265 crore), and disputed assets (₹246 crore). Naidu leads in movable assets (₹810 crore), followed by Vijay (₹426 crore). Most chief ministers declared their profession as social/political work, agriculture, or salary as a people's representative, with exceptions including advocates V.D. Satheesan and Rekha Sharma, and doctors Manik Saha and Pramod Sawant.
The ADR report underscores the prevalence of criminal cases among high-ranking political figures, raising questions about the integrity of governance in India.
