ELECTIONS '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ARCHIVES

The tainted MPs

Following Sedapatti Muthiah's resignation from the Union council of ministers following framing of charges against him in a corruption case, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham chief Jayalalitha demanded that all chargesheeted ministers should resign. Today, Janata Party chief Dr Subramanian Swamy gave a list of 'tainted ministers' in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee ministry to the President K R Narayanan, and sought his intervention in the matter. Against this backdrop, we list the MPs in the 12th Lok Sabha who have had a brush with the law -- for actions ranging from downright murder to demolishing a contentious place of worship.

CONGRESS

Bijay Singh Soy, Singhbum, Bihar

In December 1984, Soy was convicted in a murder case by the additional sessions judge, Chaibasa, and sentenced to life imprisonment, before he was acquitted by the high court. Soy has also been chargesheeted in many other cases for crimes ranging from attempt to murder, possessing illegal arms, instigating violence, et al, which are all pending trial. Soy won the 12th Lok Sabha by a margin of 10,830 votes.

C K Jaffer Sharief, Bangalore North, Karnataka

A la Sedapatti Muthiah, Sharief is also accused of owning property disproportionate to his known sources of income, and the case is being tried by a special court in Bangalore. In 1997, he was raided by the CBI -- eight teams raided 13 of his premises and recovered immovable property worth Rs 16.4 million. The chargesheet was filed against him on September 4, 1997. Sharief won the 1998 elections by 72,447 votes.

Balram Jakhar, Bikaner, Rajasthan

Jakhar has been chargesheeted by the CBI in the hawala case for allegedly receiving Rs 8.3 million from hawala dealer S K Jain and his associates. The trial -- RC no. I(A)/95(anti-corruption unit IV) under sections 120(b) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 7,12, 13 and 13-1(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act -- is still pending. Jakhar won the recent elections by a margin of 1,90,625 votes.

Bhajan Lal, Karnal, Haryana

He is accused of having bribed JMM MPs in 1993 to vote in favour of the P V Narasimha Rao government, and charges have already been filed. On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that none of the bribe-givers, including Lal, can seek immunity from prosecution. Lal won the recent elections by a margin of 52,061 votes.

Mani Kumar Subba, Tezpur, Assam

Rather unusual criminal background, he has been convicted of murder in neighbouring Nepal. He is allegedly a Nepali citizen, and way back in 1985 his citizenship was contested by an election officer who did not allow Subba to contest the poll. Further, in 1971, he was sentenced to life imprisonment under Section 13 of the Nepal Penal Code, for murdering his sister. Subba even spent 18 months in Eelam jail in Nepal, before escaping to India in 1973. He won the recent election by a margin of 1,30,349 votes.

RASHTRIYA JANATA DAL

Mohammed Shahabuddin, Siwan, Bihar

Just before the elections, Shahabuddin went underground after his house was raided for arms and ammunition. He won the 1990 assembly elections, but his criminal history stretches way beyond that. He has been challaned as many as 16 times in murder cases, and, as late as last year, he was believed to have been involved in the murder of student leader Chandrashekhar. The CBI is currently looking into the matter. His gang's preferred target is the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninst: in 1994, it killed four CPI-ML sympathisers in a shootout. He has been named in the murder of Bangra activist Salauddin Ansari and CPI-ML sympathiser Sudama Kushwaha. All this did not prevent Shahabuddin from winning the recent elections by 1,20,484 votes.

Taslimuddin, Kishenganj, Bihar

This MP has had at least 16 cases registered against him, and has gone to jail four times. And yes, for such a record he was made Union minister of state for home in the United Front government. The Left Front, naturally, opposed his inclusion in the council of ministers, and the UF acted only after a police report on his activities was sent from Bihar, by sacking him. Taslimuddin won the 1998 elections by a margin of 6,488 votes.

Laloo Prasad Yadav, Madhepura, Bihar

The former chief minister of Bihar is one of the accused in the fodder scam, and was arrested by the CBI when the state governor sanctioned his prosecution. After a long stint in 'jail', Yadav was finally released on bail. Yadav was elected in the recent elections by a margin of 51,983 votes.

SAMATA PARTY

Prabhunath Singh, Maharajganj, Bihar

Singh was released on bail recently, after spending time in jail for the murder of Janata Dal legislator Ashok Singh. His historysheet covers 34 cases, but he was voted in by a margin of 2,05,553 votes.

Shakuni Chaudhry, Khagaria, Bihar

During counting in the 1995 assembly elections, Chaudhry was named in the case involving the murder of six persons, including the then Congress candidate from Tarapore but quickly went underground. He surfaced only after he obtained bail in the case, and has since been challaned in the case. He was also named conspirator in the murder of nine people in Nawada in Munger district in 1996, for which he took anticipatory bail. He won the recent elections by a margin of 83,187 votes.

RASHTRIYA JANATA PARTY

Anand Mohan, Sheohar, Bihar

Most of the 35 cases against him pertain to murder and illegal possession of arms. He has been named in the murder of district magistrate G Krishnaiah, in which the trial is continuing. He won the 1998 elections by a margin of 93,171 votes.

BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY

Anant Kumar Hegde, Canara, Karnataka

The 15 cases against him include murder, attempted murder, rioting and instigating violence, of which he has been chargesheeted in several. He was elected by a margin of 87,047 votes.

Devendra Bahadur Rai, Sultanpur, UP

The CBI filed a chargesheet against him in the Babri masjid demolition case, against which he filed an appeal. His plea to quash the proceedings is currently pending before the Allahabad high court. Rai has been elected by a margin of 64,448 votes.

Bhanu Pratap Verma, Jalaun, UP

Despite his long police record, that covers murder and attempt to murder, Verma has been elected by a margin of 45,640 votes.

Ashok Singh, Rae Bareilly, UP

Singh has been chargesheeted in a murder case. He also faces several other cases including illegal possession of arms, rioting and provoking violence. He has been elected by a margin of 40,722 votes.

Gangacharan Singh Rajput, Hamirpur, UP

The proud claimant of historysheet no. 46B, district Jalaun, Rajput won the recent elections by a margin of 18,137 votes.

Murli Manohar Joshi, Allahabad, UP

Swami Sachidanand Sakshi, Farukkabad, UP

L K Advani, Gandhinagar, Gujarat

All the three have been chargesheeted by the CBI in the Babri mosque demolition case, and their appeals for quashing the proceedings is still pending before the Allahabad high court.

Vijayaraje Scindia, Guna, Madhya Pradesh

Uma Bharati, Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh

The two BJP women are charged with abetting the demolition of Babri mosque, although charges against Bharati are yet to be framed. Vijayaraje was chargesheeted on January 10, 1996.

SAMAJWADI PARTY

Mitrasen Yadav, Faizabad, UP

The man who humbled the Bajrang Dal's Vinay Katiyar by a margin of 7,737 votes, was convicted in a murder case in 1966 and awarded life sentence. Later he was acquitted, although he faces challans in a number of cases including murder, attempt to murder and rioting. He was elected by 7,737 votes.

Rizwan Zaheer, Balrampur, UP

Zaheer has been booked several times under the Arms Act and under the IPC for attempt to murder, and is facing at least five cases of murder. He won the recent elections by a margin of 57,259 votes.

BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY

Arif Mohamed Khan, Bahraich, UP

Khan was chargesheeted by the CBI in the hawala case for allegedly receiving Rs 7,49,86,000 from hawala dealer S K Jain and his associates. The trial is still pending -- RC no. 1(A)/95(anti-corruption unit VI) under sections 7 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. He has been elected by a margin of 38,376 votes.

ALL INDIA ANNA DMK

V Sathiamurthy, Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu

Like Muthiah, Sathiamurthy is charged with possessing property disproportionate to his known sources of income. He was elected by a margin of 24,092 votes.

SHIV SENA

Madhukar Sarpotdar, Bombay Northwest, Maharashtra

Twice arrested and detained under the National Security Act, he is one of the key conspirators named in connection with the Bombay riots of 1993, and is facing a judicial chargesheet. He has been elected by a margin of 25,732 votes.

Tell us what you think of this report