The incoming lot of newly elected legislators to the Delhi Assembly have 9 self-declared convicts, according to data released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). Of the 9 convictions, 8 have been declared by elected members of the Arvind Kerjriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party, which won 62 seats in the new assembly, with the remaining 1 being of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), who won the remaining 8. This implies that more than 10% of the Delhi's newly elected Assembly have declared convictions against them. Most of the conviction are under the Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, 2007.
However, most convicts have been let off with fines and periods of probation. A list of the convicts can be found below.
This data comes amid the results of the Delhi Assembly elections, whose results were declared on February 11. A re-elected Kejriwal as chief minister, and six other cabinet ministers, took oath of office on February 16.
The first two sub-sections of section 8 of the Representation of Peoples' Act, 1951, deals with specific Acts of Parliament and sections under the Indian Penal Code that disqualifies one for six years if fined; and if awarded a jail term, then for six years after a convict's release. Under the same section, a person convicted and serving a prison term for a period of two years or more (under law not lying in the first two sub-sections), the disqualification lasts for six years after his release.
Half the MLAs have serious criminal cases
Further, ADR also categorises 53% (or 37) of the 70 incoming MLAs to have serious criminal cases them. 61%, or 43 MLAs, have criminals cases against them. ADR defines serious criminal cases as:
- Offence for which maximum punishment is of 5 years or more
- If an offence is non-bailable
- If it is an electoral offence (for eg. IPC 171E or bribery)
- Offence related to loss to exchequer
- Offences that are assault, murder, kidnap, rape related
- Offences that are mentioned in Representation of the People Act (Section 8)
- Offences under Prevention of Corruption Act
- Crimes against women
Also read - False: 40 Out Of 62 AAP MLAs Accused Of Rape
Prominent personalities with criminal cases against them include:
At a party level, 38 (61%) of AAP's 62 elected MLAs and 5 (63%) of the BJP's 8 elected MLAs have criminal cases against them. For serious criminal cases, the figure stands at 33 (53%) for AAP, and 4 (50%) for the BJP. Further, both the BJP and AAP have more elected leaders in with criminal charges against them after this election than they did in after 2015.
How money talks
The average assets of the incoming MLAs is ₹14.29 crores. The incoming lot of MLAs to the newly elected Delhi Assembly is a rich lot, with 52 (74%) of the 70 MLAs being crorepatis, or having declared assets of more than ₹1 crore. AAP's Dharampal Lakra is the richest incoming MLA, with assets of more than ₹262 crores.
At the party level, AAPs average assets spanning their 62 MLAs is ₹14.96 crores. The average assets of the BJP's 8 candidates is just over ₹9.1 crores.
Watch the top 7 trends this transpired in the Delhi Assembly elections.
