POLITICAL SCIENCE-II; PROJECT

National Law Institute University

POLITICAL SCIENCE-II PROJECT

TOPIC:

CRIMINALIZATION OF POLITICS IN INDIA

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Dr. Raka Arya Vaibhavi A. Tadwalkar

Assistant Professor Section A
Political Science 2013 B.A.LLB 35

Enrolment Id: A-1286

 POLITICAL SCIENCE-II; PROJECT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to thank a lot of people, without whose support the completion of this project would
have been impossible.

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation towards our Political Science
teacher, Dr. Raka Arya, who guided and helped me in each step of this task.

Also, I would like to thank my family and friends for supporting me in the completion of this
project.
 POLITICAL SCIENCE-II; PROJECT

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 4
COMPONENTS OF CRIMINALIZATION OF POLITICS .......................................................... 6
REASONS OF THIS CRIMINALIZATION ................................................................................. 8
STATISTICS ABOUT THE 15TH LOK SABHA ........................................................................ 10
LEGAL THREADS ...................................................................................................................... 12
CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 16
BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................................... 17
 POLITICAL SCIENCE-II; PROJECT

INTRODUCTION
Politics is the concept which provides the manner and the rules to govern a state and country. Its
approach is to provide good governance. The persons who are related to this phenomenon are
known as politicians, who are supposed to be the persons with all the qualities needed for the
good governance. But the present scenario has completely been changed. Now the people who
are in the politics appear to be the criminals. “Criminalization of politics” is a
political buzzword in the current times. This word initially became a huge buzzword in
the United States as it was used by the media, by commentators, bloggers as well as by defenders
of high-ranking government officials who have been indicted or face criminal or ethical
investigation.

Criminalization is a term which comes of the word ‘crime’ which appears to be very unpleasant
and devouring politics in the name which is given to the art of governance. While on one hand
crime is an unlawful act of handling anything, politics is the legal way which takes or deals
anything socially. Thus, these two terms are quite contrary to each other but in the present
scenario they appear to be synonymous to each other particularly in India. Criminalization of
politics means moulding politics in a criminal shape. This trend has been growing fast since a
few decades in our country. Our Constitution provides that the representatives elected by the
citizens of our country will govern it.

Democracy implies rule of law and holding of free elections to ascertain the will of the people.
But in quite recent times this peaceful process of social change has been much vitiated. Violence,
rigging, booth capturing etc. has become the order of the day. Criminalization of politics has
become a headache for the Indian democracy. It’s shameful to admit that in the world’s largest
democracy the cult of the gun prevails; Goondas and Criminals are hired to capture booths and
kill political rivals etc. In this way the entire democratic process is negated. What’s more
surprising and rather shameful is that these people even after committing serious criminal
offences make their way to the Parliament and Assemblies, which is the highest governing body
in the country.

67 years after of India’s independence, the lives of commoners are far worse than under
Britishers. The British followed the policy of ‘divide and rule’; after India became independent,
our politicians have become past masters of the art of creating groups and inciting them against
one another. They want to fish in the troubled waters and when the water is placid, they trouble it
to achieve their selfish ends. The benefits of independence have reached only few, thus creating
islands of few ultra rich people surrounded by vast sea of utterly poor. The rich people in nexus
with those in power are getting favourable laws enacted to suit their ends. Those in power are
shamelessly enjoying 5-star luxuries all at tax payer’s expense, while more than 50 million are
starving to death. The criminalization of politics, executive & judiciary is almost complete. The
corruption has spread its tentacles far & wide, there is corruption from womb to tomb, from
maternity hospital to grave yard. The injustices mated out, the atrocities perpetrated by public
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servants are worse than Britishers. The biggest confounding factor in the political environment of
business is criminalization of politics: people with criminal backgrounds becoming politicians
and elected representatives. Around 20% of the members of the current Lok Sabha have criminal
cases pending against them. The charges in several of these cases are of heinous crimes such as
murder, robbery, kidnapping, and not just violation of Section 144, or something similar.
Though democracy implies ‘rule of law’ and the holding of free election to ascertain the will of
the people but it has been much vitiated. The criminalization of Indian politics and consequent
cult of gun has created great threat to the life of the common people. The great leaders of all
political parties and intellectuals deliver eloquent speeches expressing their abhorrence at the
infiltration of criminals into the electoral area. It is well known that all parties take the help of
criminal elements to dominate the election scene in India. But this process is influencing the
mind and the will of the people both to gain the majority to rule the country according to their
will. The system of democracy is now changing into the dictatorship of some. Because the
democracy of India are now in hands of the criminal who are not capable any way to hold the
post if legislature.
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COMPONENTS OF CRIMINALIZATION OF POLITICS

1. MUSCLE POWER:

The influence of muscle power in Indian politics has been a fact of life for a long time. As early
as in 1977, the National Police Commission headed by Dharam Vira observed: “The manner in
which different political parties have functioned, particularly on the eve of periodic election,
involves the free use of musclemen and ‘Dadas’ to influence the attitude and conduct of sizable
sections of the electorate. The Panchayat elections, like other elections in the recent past, have
demonstrated once again that there can be no sanity in India as long as politics continues to be
based on caste and muscle power.”

2. GANGSTERISM:

The politicians are thriving today on the basis of muscle power provided by criminals. The
common people who constitute the voters are in most cases too reluctant to take measures that
would curtail the criminal activities. Once the political aspect joins the criminal elements the
nexus becomes extremely dangerous. Many of politicians chose muscle power to gain vote bank
in the country, and they apply the assumption that, if we are unable to bring faith in the
community then we can generate fear or threat to get the power in the form of election.

3. HOOLIGANISM IN REPUTED FORUMS:

The corner-stone of democracy is objective discussion of the public issues by the people. The
representatives of the people are expected to encourage such discussions, generate valuable ideas
and take decisions in the larger interests of the people. But even the democratic forums like
legislative assemblies and Parliament are not used for sincere discussions.
There are innumerable examples of such hooliganism in the Parliament. The former Sports and
Youth Affairs Minister Goolihatti D Shekhar displayed his ‘youthfulness’ and sporting nature by
jumping from one desk to another. He tore his shirt yelling expletives at Chief Minister B S
Yeddyurappa and his government. Shekhar had been sacked by Yeddyurappa for non-
performance. The decency and decorum once considered inseparable from the public offices are
thrown to the wind; these elected representatives would stoop down to any level, for achieving
their personal political aims or the interests of their parties. From village panchayat meetings to
Parliament, the common behavior includes selfish quarrel, cheap arguments, disrespect to
authorities, violation of healthy conventions, and waste of time. The infamous Jayalalitha saree
episode is known to everyone. It took place in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on March 25, 1989.
She was then the leader of the Opposition. Jayalalithaa got furious when a minister allegedly
pulled her saree on the floor of the House. The saree episode was not a one-off incident. On
January 28, 1988, there was utter chaos when Janaki Ramachandran succeeded M.G.
Ramachandran as Chief Minister following the latter's death. When she was to prove her
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majority on the floor of the house, members came to blows and goondas stormed the House.
Mikes were wrenched and pedestal fans and chairs were hurled all around. The then City Police
Commissioner W.I. Davaram led a police contingent into the House and the police bet up anyone
coming in front of them.

In all political parties, the rowdies are given red-carpeted welcome; because their ‘services’ are
needed to these parties frequently for carrying on unlawful activities during the bandhs, strikes,
rallies etc., organized by them. When such criminals become political leaders, they seek to
achieve whatever they want without caring for rules and regulations; they would not hesitate to
adopt criminal methods for attaining their goals; whether it is winning an election or elimination
of rivals. For these hard core criminals, the offences like threatening officials, kidnapping and
even murder do not appear bad.

4. MONEY POWER:

The elections to Parliament and State Legislatures are very expensive and it is a widely accepted
fact that huge election expenditure is the root cause for corruption in India. A candidate has to
spend lakhs of rupees to get elected and even if he gets elected, the total salary he gets during his
tenure as an MP/MLA will be meager compared to his election expenses. He bridges the gap
between the income and expenses publicly; through donations and secretly through illegal
means. Criminal activity can generate large sums of untaxed funds. The politicians have money
and muscle, so they win and help others in their party win as well. For example, the expenditure
estimation for an election estimated as Rs 5 per voter as election expenditure, for 600 million
voters, and calculation of all the expenses in a general elaction estimated around Rs 2,000 crore.
Then there is the period between elections. This requires around Rs 250 crore. Then there are
state elections and local elections. All told, the system has to generate around Rs 5,000 crore in a
five year cycle or Rs 1,000 crore on average each year.
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REASONS OF THIS CRIMINALIZATION

1. VOTE BANK:-

The political parties and independent candidates have astronomical expenditure for vote buying
and other illegitimate purposes through these criminals or so called goondas. A politician’s link
with them constituency provides a congenial climate to political crime. Those who do not know
why they ought to vote comprise the majority of voters of this country. Therefore majority of the
voters are manoeuvrable, purchasable. Most of them are individually timid and collectively
coward. To gain their support is easier for the unscrupulous than the conscientious.

We have long witnessed criminals being wooed by political parties and given cabinet posts
because their muscle and money power fetches crucial votes. Elections are won and lost on
swings of just 1% of the vote, so parties cynically woo every possible vote bank, including those
headed by accused robbers and murderers. Legal delays ensure that the accused will die of old
age before being convicted, so parties virtuously insist that these chaps must be regarded as
innocent till proved guilty.

2. CORRUPTION:

In every election all parties without exception put up candidates with a criminal background.
Even though some of us whine about the decision taken by the parties, the general trend is that
these candidates are elected to office. By acting in such a manner we fail to realize that the
greatest power that democracy arms the people is to vote incompetent people out of power.
Independence has taken place through a two-stage process. The first stage was the corrupting of
the institutions and the second stage was the institutionalization of corruption. As we look at the
corruption scene today, we find that we have reached this stage because the corrupting of the
institutions in turn has finally led to the institutionalization of corruption. The failure to deal with
corruption has bred contempt for the law. When there is contempt for the law and this is
combined with the criminalization of politics, corruption flourishes. India's image on tackling
corruption has not improved with Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index
(CPI) placing it at 94th rank out of 177 nations in its 2013 report. India has scored 36 points on a
scale of 0-100, where 0 means that a country is perceived as highly corrupt and 100 means it is
perceived as very clean.

3. LOOPHOLES IN THE FUNCTIONING OF ELECTION COMMISSION:

The Election Commission must take adequate measures to break the nexus between the
criminals and the politicians. The forms prescribed by the Election Commission for candidates
disclosing their convictions, cases pending in courts and so on in their nomination papers is a
step in the right direction if it applied properly. Too much should not be expected, however,
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from these disclosures. They would only inform people of the candidate’s history and
qualifications, but not prohibit them from casting their votes, regardless, in favour of a criminal.
For the past several general elections there has existed a gulf between the Election Commission
and the voter. Common people hardly come to know the rules made by the commission.
Bridging this gap is essential not only for rooting out undesirable elements from politics but also
for the survival of our democratic polity. This is an incremental process, the rate of success of
which is directly proportional to the increase in literacy rate in India. The electorate have made
certain wrong choices in the past, but in the future national interest should guide them in making
intelligent choices.

4. DENIAL OF JUSTICE AND RULE OF LAW:

Criminalization is a fact of Indian electoral politics today. The voters, political parties and the
law and order machinery of the state are all equally responsible for this. There is very little faith
in India in the efficacy of the democratic process in actually delivering good governance. This
extends to accepting criminalization of politics as a fact of life. Toothless laws against convicted
criminals standing for elections further encourage this process. Under current law, only people
who have been convicted at least on two counts be debarred from becoming candidates. This
leaves the field open for charge sheeted criminals, many of whom are habitual offenders or
history-sheeters. It is mystifying indeed why a person should be convicted on two counts to be
disqualified from fighting elections. The real problem lies in the definitions. Thus, unless a
person has been convicted, he is not a criminal. Mere charge-sheets and pending cases do not
suffice as bars to being nominated to fight an election. So the law has to be changed accordingly.
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STATISTICS ABOUT THE 15TH LOK SABHA

The main reason for such downslide in political standard is the absence of reasonable restrictions
to formation of political parties and admission of members to the political parties. For example,
in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, 369 parties contested. And, totally 8070 candidates represented
these parties. Out of 369 parties, 333 parties did not win even in a single constituency. Moreover,
the number of candidates with criminal records among our ‘elected representatives’ is steadily
increasing. In 2004 Lok Sabha, there were 128 MPs with criminal background; and in 2009 the
number rose to 150. Statistics of MPs in the current (15th Lok Sabha):

Educational profiles of the MPs of the 15th Lok Sabha:

 Literate: 4
 5th Pass: 9
 8th Pass: 9
 10th Pass: 45
 12th Pass: 50
 Graduate: 147
 Graduate Professional: 106
 Post Graduate: 130
 Doctorate: 20
 Others: 8
 Not Given: 15

(Total 543)

A summary of criminal cases faced by the MPs of the 15th Lok Sabha:

There were 158 newly elected MPs with criminal cases pending against them. Out of these, there
were 74 MPs having serious charges against them. Here is the high level summary of the new
Lok Sabha:

• Affidavits available for MPs – 543

• MPs with criminal charges – 161 (29.65 %)
• MPs with serious criminal charges – 75 (13.81 %)
• Total criminal cases against MPs – 512
• Total serious IPC sections against MPs – 272
• Total millionaire MPs – 314
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As compared to 2004, the number of MPs with pending criminal charges has gone up. There
were 128 MPs with pending criminal cases against them in 2004 Lok Sabha out of which 55 had
serious criminal charges. There is an increase of about 25.78% in MPs with criminal charges and
36.36% increase in the number of MPs with serious criminal charges. There was a decrease of
9.93% in the number of serious criminal charges on these MPs.
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LEGAL THREADS
1. THE NATIONAL POLICE COMMISSION, 1977:
The National Police Commission constituted in 1977 pointed out,5 in one of its reports, “In the
existing set-up, the police function under the executive control of the state government.”
According to the Commission, the manner in which political control has been exercised over the
police in this country has led to gross abuses, resulting in erosion of rule of law and loss of police
credibility as a professional organization. The threat of transfer / suspension is the most potent
weapon in the hands of the politician to bend the police down to his will.
The most important recommendations of the NPC centered on the problem of insulating the
police from illegitimate political and bureaucratic interference. These recommendations
perturbed the entrenched elite at the prospect of losing control over an organization that they had
been misusing for so long.6
Many of the truthful observations of the National Police Commission (NPC) about the general
behavior of the politicians irked the then government, and many of its meaningful
recommendations were ignored. But the history has proved the observations of the NPC. The
electoral offences have multiplied in quantity and intensity; the involvement of the criminals in
them with the support of political leaders is threatening to make the electoral process in India an
exercise in futility. The nexus of politicians and criminals is becoming stronger with the
participation of dishonest officials patronized by the political leaders. Such nexus of politicians,
criminals and dishonest officials is spreading everywhere; and it is now very open. They have
become very confident that nobody can do anything against them; if anybody becomes so much
of a trouble, it is not a big thing to silence him or her.
Nidhi Soni observes in an article,7 “The politicians are thriving today on the basis of muscle
power provided by criminals. The common people who constitute the voters are in most cases
too reluctant to take measures that would curtail the criminal activities. Once the political aspect
joins the criminal elements the nexus becomes extremely dangerous. Many of politicians chose
muscle power to gain vote bank in the country, and they apply the assumption that, if we are
unable to bring faith in the community then we can generate fear or threat to get the power in the
form of election.”

2. VOHRA COMMITTEE REPORT:

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 patrons,
a commission was instituted to investigate the so-called nexus. The report by N.N.Vohra found
such deep involvement of politicians with organized crime all over India that it was barred from
publication. Here Vohra observed “the various crime syndicate/mafia organizations 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 about the criminalization of politics. After all, the
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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. This was mentioned in the petition submitted by the Speaker of Lok Sabha
and President of India on 16th may that- “The subject of criminalization of politics is one that
concerns the entire nation closely. It is deeply disturbing that on the one hand, our polity is
tolerant of ‘fake encounters’ (summary executions) of alleged criminals and terrorists, while our
highest representative body – Indian Parliament – harbours people caught red-handed in acts of
human trafficking, and convicted on charges of abduction and suspected murder.”

3. SUPREME COURT’S JUDGEMENT:

The Supreme Court judgment of May 2, 2002 mandated that candidates disclose their criminal
antecedents, if any, as also their financial and educational background. The Election Commission
had proposed amendment of statutory rules and the format of nomination papers, to give effect to
this judgment of the Supreme Court. The Apex Court judgement to check corruption among
public servant is a welcome step. No law should provide protective shield to the corrupt public
official and the court has rightly held that no prior sanction of competent authority would be
required to prosecute them. With this order, 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 Apex Court as custodian of constitution
should take all necessary steps to strengthen democracy in the country. The legislature and
executive have been complaining about the Supreme Court’s intervention on their domain, but it
becomes imperative in such kind of unwanted situation. The Supreme Court of India upheld a
PIL which made it mandatory for everyone seeking public office to disclose their criminal,
financial and educational history. It was a way to ensure that the voters knew the important
details about their “honourable” leaders, and steamed them were indeed. Some of the parties
would be able to draw advantage from the Supreme Court order because they have had less
opportunity to indulge in crime and corruption. They would have a greater chance of watching
candidates of other parties squirm and suffer in agony. Some others might be happy because they
already have efficient watchdog systems and batteries of lawyers in place that would permit them
to file counter-affidavits and challenge nominations of opposing candidates within hours of their
being filed.

In March 2014, the Supreme Court passed a landmark judgement asking for speedy trials of
chargesheeted politicians in government. Although the Constitution had provisions for
disqualification of convicted politicians, cases would lie pending for long years with politicians
still in power. This protected especially those charged with serious crimes such as murder and
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rape. Here is a timeline of how the judgement came about. Section 8 of the Representation of the
People Act, 1951, states that politicians and electoral candidates convicted for a crime shall be
disqualified from the date of conviction till six years after their release. However, subsection 4 of
Section 8 says that if the convicted person is already an MP or MLA, he or she will not be
disqualified until three months from the date of conviction. Therefore, if an appeal is filed within
these three months, the hearing could be delayed for years. The politician would thus be in power
till the court disposes off the case. The Supreme Court partially accepted the recommendations
of the Law Commission and passed an order directing that trials against sitting MPs and MLAs
must be concluded within a year of charges being framed and that they should be conducted on a
day-to-day basis. The Court also said that if a lower court is unable to complete the trial within a
year, it will have to submit an explanation in writing and seek an extension from the Chief
Justice of the concerned High Court. The 2014 Supreme Court order offers a ray of hope because
if politicians with criminal records are elected in the forthcoming general elections, they could be
disqualified as early as May 2015 if convicted.

4. RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT AND CRIMINALIZATION OF POLITICS:

The Court held that the right to information - the right to know antecedents, including the
criminal past, or assets of candidates - was a fundamental right under Article 19(1) (a) of the
Constitution and that the information was fundamental for survival of democracy. In its
Judgment of May 2, 2002, it directed the Election Commission to call for information on
affidavit from each candidate seeking election to Parliament or the State Legislature as a
necessary part of the nomination papers on: Whether the candidate has been convicted / acquitted
/ discharged of any criminal offence in the past - if any, whether the candidate was accused in
any pending case of any offence punishable with imprisonment for two years or more, and in
which charge was framed or cognizance taken by the court of law. If so, requires the details
thereof; the assets (immovable, movable, bank balance, etc.) of a candidate and of his/her spouse
and that of the dependents; liabilities, if any, particularly of any overdue of any public financial
institution or Government dues; educational qualifications of the candidate. The Right to
Information Act 2005 is a historical Act that makes Government officials liable for punishment if
they fail to respond to people within a stipulated timeframe. Many public servants are leading
luxurious lifestyles, beyond the legal sources of their income. Many 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. These authorities are not properly
verifying these affidavits. Many scams, scandals are coming to light day in & day out, politicians
are accusing each other of involvement in scams. Whereas, the said authorities are keeping mum,
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.
This seen is very normal now a day that some public servants, caught red-handed during
luxurious spending, they easily say that it is at their political party’s expense or their well
wisher’s expense. However no entries are found in the account books of said parties to that
respect. The law forbids public servants from accepting gifts, hospitality, favours beyond the
value of rupees one hundred (Rs. 100 ) , as it may be a form of bribe. But one may ask all these
under RTI. Right to Know is an inherent attribute of every person. Right to know differs only in
one sense with right to information. Right to know is a natural right and right to information is a
 POLITICAL SCIENCE-II; PROJECT

provision given by government to its people. Natural rights do not have any value legally until
they are legally considered. 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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CONCLUSION

Criminalization of politics in India is an extremely serious problem, which has already reached
dangerous levels. This evil of Criminalization of Politics calls for special attention of the people
because the subject revolves around the vested interests of politicians of all hues; as such the
people can never hope that the politicians would take any initiative to rectify this evil. The
prevailing trend is spreading like cancer. It is nullifying all the constitutional safeguards of
democracy; that is, it is spoiling bureaucracy by making it partial; it thwarts press; and even
threatens judiciary; and thus is destroying the foundation of democracy. So the people should
wake up at once and force the political parties to mend their ways. Though democracy implies
‘rule of law’ and the holding of free election to ascertain the will of the people but it has been
much vitiated. The criminalization of Indian politics and consequent cult of gun has created great
threat to the life of the common people. The great leaders of all political parties and intellectuals
deliver eloquent speeches expressing their abhorrence at the infiltration of criminals into the
electoral area. Stress is laid on eliminating the use of muscle power in the electoral process. Yet,
the majority of the parties remain satisfied with expressing such pious sentiments. No one is
seriously concerned to check this process of criminalization. The House of State Assemblies and
Parliament always witness with the abuses and quarrels among its members. This criminalization
has moved all the ideals of democracy. No one can say what will be the end of this alarming
situation. It becomes the duty of the genuine mind in this critical situation to make efforts to save
our democracy from this menace. If the criminals continue to flourish in this way, nothing will
remain intact. No one will be spared even the creators of this situation. Hence everyone must
take it seriously.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Deccan Chronicle, Hyderabad, October 12, 2010

2. http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4453489&page=2
3. http://www.scribd.com/doc/20133814/Criminalization-of-Politics-in-India-A-project-study
4. Deccan Chronicle, Hyderabad, October 12, 2010
5. http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/publications/police/npc_recommendations.pdf
6. http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=91
%3Ashiva&id=686%3Apolice-india-national-police-commission&Itemid=100
7. http://www.legalserviceindia.com/article/l290-Criminalization-of-Politics.html
8. http://www.zeenews.com/news586176.html
9. Analysis of Criminal & Financial Details of MPs Of 15th Lok Sabha (2009) Interim Report by
the NATIONAL ELECTION WATCH & ASSOCIATION FOR DEMOCRATIC REFORM,
website www.adrindia.org-- source for the stats on 15th lok sabha mps.
10. http://www.satyamevjayate.in/Criminalization-Of-Politics/EPISODE-5Article.aspx?uid=E5-
PTY-i1
11. http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/the-enchanted-word/varsity-degrees-crime-charges-
and-the-great-indian-political-pantomime/