251 Lok Sabha MPs, 14 Chief Ministers face criminal cases: Report to SC

A report on the criminalisation of politics submitted to the Supreme Court has found that 251 of 543 Lok Sabha members and 75 of 233 Rajya Sabha members face criminal cases, with more than 4,000 such cases pending against sitting and former MPs and MLAs nationwide, according to an affidavit filed by amicus curiae Vijay Hansaria.

The affidavit, filed through advocate Senha Kalita in a public interest litigation seeking expeditious disposal of criminal cases against lawmakers, said 14 of 28 state chief ministers have declared criminal cases against themselves, including serious ones.

Telangana Chief Minister Anumula Revanth Reddy tops the list with 89 cases, followed by West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari with 29 and Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar with 19, the data showed.

Senior advocate Hansaria told the court that despite monitoring by the Supreme Court and high courts to speed up trials, the number of pending cases against lawmakers has stayed roughly unchanged since 2018.

Citing data collated from various high courts, he said 1,243 criminal cases were decided in 2025 while 1,050 new cases were registered the same year, leaving a total of 4,192 cases pending against current and former MPs and MLAs.

Citing a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms, the affidavit said 170 of the 251 Lok Sabha members facing cases are accused in serious criminal cases punishable by five years' imprisonment or more, while 40 of the 75 Rajya Sabha members facing cases fall into that serious category.

The amicus also submitted a state-wise breakdown based on high court reports, excluding Uttar Pradesh as no report was received from the Allahabad High Court.

Kerala had the highest proportion, with 19 of its 20 MPs facing criminal charges and 11 facing serious cases, followed by Telangana at 82 per cent (14 of 17), Odisha at 76 per cent (16 of 21), Jharkhand at 71 per cent (10 of 14) and Tamil Nadu at 67 per cent (26 of 39).

Roughly half the MPs from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Bihar, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh face criminal cases, while Haryana and Chhattisgarh each have just one MP facing charges out of 10 and 11 respectively. Punjab has two of 13 MPs facing cases, Assam three of 14, Delhi three of seven, Rajasthan four of 25, Gujarat five of 25 and Madhya Pradesh nine of 29.

Hansaria sought directions for special MP/MLA courts to handle only lawmaker trials until they conclude before taking up other cases, and for principal district and sessions judges to assign regular court work to these special courts only after such trials are completed.

He also asked that high courts monitor trial progress monthly through a suo motu writ petition and ensure cases are concluded within a year of charges being framed, and that cases pending for more than three years be micro-monitored with effective orders passed in each.

Hansaria is assisting the court in a PIL filed by Ashwini Upadhyay seeking speedy disposal of cases against lawmakers.

On November 9, 2023, the Supreme Court had directed high courts to set up special benches to monitor and fast-track more than 5,000 pending criminal cases against lawmakers, directing special courts not to adjourn such proceedings except for rare and compelling reasons and instructing that cases against members of Parliament, legislative assemblies and legislative councils be given priority.