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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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Criminalization of Politics• 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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Criminalization of Politics

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Criminalization of PoliticsIncreasing 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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Criminalization of Politics• 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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Criminalization of Politicsthe 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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Criminalization of Politics• 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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Criminalization of Politics• 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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Criminalization of Politics• 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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Criminalization of Politics• 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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Criminalization of Politics• 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.

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Criminalization of Politics• 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,

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Criminalization of Politics• 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%).

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Criminalization of PoliticsIndira 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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Criminalization of PoliticsLegal 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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Criminalization of Politics• 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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Criminalization of Politicsabout 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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Criminalization of Politics• 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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Criminalization of Politics• 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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Criminalization of Politics• 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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Criminalization of PoliticsIt 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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Criminalization of Politics• 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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Criminalization of Politics• 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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Criminalization of Politics