By Suresh Unnithan

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala, the state ahead of all others on literacy and health index has created  another record. According to a report released by a national agency the state stands first in percentage of MLAs with criminal cases. Out of out of the elected representatives in the state assembly 95 are facing criminal cases in various courts. According to a report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) & National Election Watch (NEW), Kerala has the highest percentage (70) of MLAs facing criminal proceedings.

According to the ADR report out of the 4001 MLAs from various state assemblies 1777 (44%) have criminal cases against pending in various judicial forum. The report says that out of the 4001 MLAs the organisation analysed  1136 (28%) lawmakers  from State assemblies  face serious criminal cases including cases related to murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, crimes against women etc.

While Kerala tops the list of states with percentage of MLAs facing criminal cases (70%). Bihar has the second position with 161 (67%) out of 242 MLAs facing criminal cases. The next is Delhi with 44 (63%) out of 70 MLAs having criminal cases to their credit. 175 (62%) out of 284 MLAs from Maharashtra, 72(61%) out of 118 MLAs from Telangana and 134 (60%) out of 224 MLAs from Tamil Nadu have declared criminal cases against them.

It is interesting, out of all the states, the elected representatives of Delhi has the highest percentage of MLAs facing serious criminal charges. As per the affidavit filed with the election commission 37 (53%) out of 70 MLAs from Delhi have serious criminal cases against them. Out of 242 MLAs from Bihar State Assembly 122 (50%) are facing serious criminal cases. 114 (40%) out of 284 MLAs from Maharashtra, 31 (39%) out of 79 MLAs from Jharkhand, 46(39%) out of 118 MLAs from Telangana and 155 (38%) out of 403 MLAs from Uttar Pradesh have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their self-sworn affidavits.

Highest Percentage of MLAs with Serious Criminal Cases: 37 (53%) out of 70 MLAs from Delhi, 122 (50%) out of 242 MLAs from Bihar, 114 (40%) out of 284 MLAs from Maharashtra, 31 (39%) out of 79 MLAs from Jharkhand, 46(39%) out of 118 MLAs from Telangana and 155 (38%) out of 403 MLAs from Uttar Pradesh have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their self-sworn affidavits.

MLAs with cases related to murder: 47 MLAs have declared cases related to murder (Indian Penal Code Section-302).MLAs with cases related to Attempt to Murder: 181 MLAs have declared cases of attempt to murder (IPC Section-307).MLAs with cases related to Crimes against Women: 114 MLAs have declared cases related to crimes against women. Out of 114 MLAs, 14 MLAs have declared cases related to rape (IPC Section-376).

The report has also says that the average of assets per MLA from state assemblies is Rs 13.63 Crores. The state with the highest average assets per MLA is Karnataka (223 MLAs) with average assets of Rs 64.39 crores, followed by Andhra Pradesh (174 MLAs) with average assets of Rs 28.24 crores and Maharashtra (284 MLAs) with average assets of Rs 23.51 crores.

The state with the lowest average assets of MLAs is Tripura (59 MLAs) with average assets of Rs 1.54 crores, followed by West Bengal (293 MLAs) with average assets of Rs 2.80 crores and Kerala (135 MLAs) with average assets of Rs 3.15 crores.

According the ADR report 0ut of the 4001 MLAs analysed from State Assemblies, 88 (2%) are Billionaires. 32(14%) out of 223 MLAs from Karnataka, 4 (7%) out of 59 MLAs from Arunachal Pradesh, 10 (6%) out of 174 MLAs from Andhra Pradesh, 12(4%) out of 284 MLAs from Maharashtra, 2(3%) out of 68 MLAs from Himachal Pradesh, 5(3%) out of 182 MLAs from Gujarat and 6(3%) out of 230 MLAs from Madhya Pradesh have declared assets worth more than Rs. 100 crores.