News & Contemporary Issues - Criminalization of politics 2

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News And Contemporary Issues
Issues for discussion (Module – IV) – Criminalization of
Politics

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Criminalization of Politics
• Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of
an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring
about an election result, whether by increasing the vote
share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote
share of the rival candidates, or both.
• Also called voter fraud, the mechanisms involved
include illegal voter registration, intimidation at polls and
improper vote counting. What electoral fraud is under
law varies from country to country.
• Many kinds of voter fraud are outlawed in electoral
legislation, but others are in violation of general laws,
such as those banning assault, harassment or libel.

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• Although technically the term 'electoral fraud' covers
only those acts which are illegal, the term is sometimes
used to describe acts which are legal but nevertheless
considered morally unacceptable, outside the spirit of
electoral laws, or in violation of the principles of
democracy.
• “After Sixty four years of winning independence,
India waits to be free again. To be freed from
criminals who have muscled their way into power" –
an appeal from the Public Interest Foundation.

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Increasing Criminalization of Politics in India
• Every country's fate depends upon its politics. It
happens with India as well.
• However, it is felt that the common citizen of the
country detaches himself from the politics. In India, it is
very well said that all are the bird’s of the same feather
(for our respected Politician).
• There are so many latest examples which proves the
same. Let's start with A. Raja (headed the
Telecommunications and IT Ministry) who is accused of
2G spectrum from which India had to suffer a loss of Rs.
200 crore (US$ 39.9 million).
• Suresh Kalmadi, the President of the Indian Olympic
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• Association is stacked in Commonwealth Games 2011's
scam which causes a loss of Rs 95 crore
(US$18.53million).
• And the latest is the coal scam where the report of the
Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) on allotment of
coal blocks without auction and India lost up to $210
billion in revenue. This can be termed as the mother of
all scam.
• There are endless other examples like that about the
Indian politicians but still they getting the tickets, fighting
the elections shamelessly and get win and sit on round
chair.
• If somebody wants to raise his voice against the system,
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the government just tries to put them down. We have
examples of Anna Hazare, the Indian social activist and
Baba Ramdev, the famous Yoga guru in India.
• The incident that happened at Ram Lila Maidan at
midnight of 5 June 2011 was a disgrace on the face
of democracy where police raided the site forcefully,
detained the guru, and removed his supporters.
• Seventy-one people were injured and moved to hospital.
• Even after the 65 years of India's sovereignty, the
blessings of independence have reached only to the
creamy layer of the society, thus creating India the island
of few ultra rich people encircled by vast sea of entirely
poor.
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• The criminalization of politics has spread its roots from
legislature to executive and from executive to judiciary.
• In Indian parliament, around 20% of the members of the
current Lok Sabha have criminal cases pending against
them.
• The charges of these cases are of very serious crimes
like rape, kidnapping, murder, robbery etc.
• The unscrupulous politician engages gangsters, to buy
and sell votes, deliberately pressurize the common
people to vote for a particular party or candidate.
• And gradually these criminals themselves enter into the
law making bodies, democratically and made the law of
the land.
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• Weak Judicial System & Denial of Justice: Thousands
and thousands of cases are pending in District Courts,
High Courts and Supreme Court against these criminal
cum politicians.
• The definitions is the real problem. Therefore, unless a
person has been convicted, he is not a criminal.
• This is the reason that they are fighting elections
shamelessly and take the help of week judicial system to
defend themselves.
• The state assembly elections of Bihar, UP, Haryana,
Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh points out towards one
obvious tread in Indian politics- increasing criminalization
of politics.
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• Lalu Prasad Yadav who served as the chief minister in
Bihar from 1990 to 1997 has been charged in many
corruption cases like of "Fodder Scam".
• 63-odd cases is filed against him. Moreover, at the time
of assembly elections the Candidate list of his party has
maximum number of criminals.
• Talking about the recent assembly election of UP, the
Election commission of India has issued a list in which it
was clearly stated that nearly 77 candidates with a
criminal background.

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• Mohammad Sahabuddin was elected to four successive
terms in the Indian Parliament from 1996-2008 from
Siwan constituency Bihar on RJD ticket.
• In 1996, Sahabuddin was named as a Minister of State
for the Home Ministry in the H.D. Deve Gowda
government.
• He is currently serving a life sentence for kidnapping with
intent to murder and as many as 34 cases of serious
crime are pending against him.
• Mukhtar Ansari won the Mau seat in the Uttar Pradesh
Elections, 2007 as an Independent while lodged initially
at Ghazipur jail.

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• Arun Gawli is one of the most notorious criminal turned
politicians who is based in Mumbai. With his operations
center at Dagdi Chawl in Bayculla he now enjoys the
position of MLA. However, he has not been convicted of
any crimes but has spent almost ten years in prison
• Shibu Soren is another politician who was the chief
minister of Jharkhand and was found guilty of murder of
his secretary.
• Raja Bhaiya is a SP leader who has royal ancestry;
however he is a criminal and has spent considerable
amount of time in Jail under the POTA (Prevention of
Terrorist Activities) Act.
• Atiq Ahmad was a member of Lok Sabha from the
Phulpur Lok Sabha Constituency in Uttar Pradesh. 12

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• He is currently in prison facing trial in 35 criminal cases
including several cases of murder. In the Indian general
elections, 2009, he was allowed to contest in election
since he is yet to be convicted in any case.
• The radical cause of increasing criminalisation of politics
is nexus of muscle power, money power and politics.
Criminalisation of politics is actually a mysterious
enigma.
• Mohammad Shahabuddin is one of India's most
powerful criminal-politicians and also known as
robinhood for his good deeds.
• Four times Member of Parliament from Siwan, Bihar,
with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) party of Lalu Prasad
Yadav, 13

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• and 2-time MLA in the Bihar Vidhan Sabha (Legislative
Assembly), he is currently serving a life sentence for
kidnapping with intent to murder.
• Because of this conviction, he was not permitted to
contest in the 2009 general election. He is also under
trial in more than thirty criminal cases including eight of
murder, twenty of attempted murder, as well as
kidnapping, extortion, etc.
• Shahabuddin was elected to four successive terms in the
Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha) from 1996-2008. In the
2009 general election, the RJD party had put up his wife
Hena Shahab from Siwan constituency in Bihar, but his
long-time opponent, Om Prakash Yadav, defeated her
by 63,000 votes (9%). 14

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Indira Gandhi was the first woman Prime Minister of India.
Political thinkers, even today consider Gandhi as the
most controversial Premier of the nation.
• It was during her period in office, India was enveloped
into "a state of emergency". (1975)
• In order to suppress the rising movement for a separate
state called "Khalistan" Gandhi ordered the army to
launch a manhunt inside the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
• The event was termed as the "Operation Blue-Star“
(1980). She was accused of unfair treatment to the Sikhs
and the anger was so intensified that on 31 October
1984, she was shot by two of her Sikh bodyguards.

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Legal Threads:-
(1) Vohra Committee:-
12 bombs blasts that shook Bombay on 13 march 1993,
had involved the collaboration of a diffuse network of
criminal gangs, police and customs officials as well as
their political

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• Patrons, a commission were institutes to investigate the
so-called nexus.
• The report by N.N.Vohra found such deep involvement
of politicians with organised crime all over India that it
was barred from publication.
• Here Vohra observes "the various crime syndicate/mafia
organisations have developed significant muscle and
money power and established linkage with governmental
functionaries, political leaders and other to be able to
operate with impunity.
• As highlighted by the Vohra Committee Our elections
involve a lot of black money and it is this use of black
money in elections which has also brought
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about the criminalization of politics. After all, the story of the
Hawala scam started by the police stumbling to the Jain
diaries in their effort to trace the money received by the
Kashmir militants.
• The scam brought out the linkage between the corrupt
businessmen, politicians, bureaucracy and the criminals.
• The 1993 Bombay blasts which took away the life of 300
people was made possible because RDX could be
smuggled by allegedly bribing a customs official with
Rs.20 lakhs.
• Some 15 years ago Vohra committee submitted its
report to curb criminalization of politics but the fact is that
no application in this way is being made.
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• 93 MPs and 10 ministers in Manmohan Singh's ministry
are under the scanner on various criminal charges.
• This is appalling. It is ironical that the executive and
legislatures who make and implement policies and
guidelines for the development are themselves acting as
stumbling block in the development of the nation.
• The role of Supreme Court becomes very important
here.
• The Right to Information Act 2005 is a historical Act that
makes Government officials liable for punishment f they
fail to respond to people within a stipulated timeframe.
• Many public servants are leading luxurious lifestyles,
beyond the legal sources of their income.
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• These public servants are filing false affidavits about
their annual income, wealth details to Election
Commission of India / Vigilance Commission / other
authorities, as the case may be.
• The authorities are not properly verifying these affidavits.
Many scams, scandals are coming to light everyday,
politicians are accusing each other of involvement in
scams.
• Whereas, the said authorities are silent, as if those
affidavits filed by tainted public servants are true. The
tainted public servants are not even providing full, right
information to public as per RTI Act, lest the truth come
out.
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• Hence right to know as such implied in the freedom of
speech and expression which is a legally considered
right must have to be given a special value.
• Right to information as such will bring transparency of
the government activities and allow the people to find
remedies for those things by which they suffered.

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It ruled that every candidate, contesting an election to
Parliament, State Legislatures or Municipal Corporation,
has to declare the following along with the application for
his/her candidature:
• A candidate's criminal charges
• The candidate's financial records
• The candidate's educational qualifications
• If the candidate fails to file any of the above three
declarations, the Returning Officer will have the right to
reject his nomination papers.
• The Supreme Court has ruled that all the three
declarations will have to be true.
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• The Election Commission had sent a notification on June
28, 2002, to all State Election Officers with a view to
enforcing it.
• The Supreme Court's thrust has been that the people
and the voters have the right to know about the
candidate's criminal record, assets and liabilities and
educational qualifications. The Returning Officer has
to publish these declarations for the voters' knowledge.
• Among the Indian intelligentsia, the increasing
Criminalization of politics has become an issue of prime
concern.

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• It is the high time for the custodians of democracy in
India- its common man- to pressurize the political parties
to stop giving tickets to candidates with tainted records
so that the politics will not become a smooth and easy
task for criminals.

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News & Contemporary Issues - Criminalization of politics 2

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