326 MPs, 14 CMs face criminal cases, SC told

The Supreme Court has been presented with a report outlining the criminalization of politics, which reveals that 251 out of 543 Lok Sabha members and 75 out of 233 Rajya Sabha members have criminal cases against them. These figures were provided by senior advocate Vijay Hansaria, who acted as amicus curiae in a petition seeking the accelerated resolution of criminal cases against MPs and MLAs. The affidavit stated that over 4,000 criminal cases are currently pending against lawmakers.

The chief ministers of 14 states have declared criminal cases against them, including serious ones. Notable examples include Telangana CM Anumula Revanth Reddy, who has 89 cases against him, followed by West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari with 29 cases, and Karnataka CM D K Shivakumar with 19 cases. Despite monitoring efforts by the Supreme Court and High Courts, the number of pending criminal cases against MPs and MLAs since 2018 has remained largely unchanged.

According to Hansaria's report, 1,243 criminal cases were decided in 2025, with 1,050 new cases registered that year. The total number of pending cases against former and current MPs/MLAs stands at 4,192, with 170 serious criminal cases in the Lok Sabha and 40 in the Rajya Sabha. In Kerala, 19 out of 20 MPs faced criminal charges, with 11 facing serious cases.

Telangana accounted for 14 out of 17 MPs with criminal cases, while 76% of Odisha's 17 MPs faced criminal charges. The situation is similarly dire in other major states, with varying percentages of lawmakers facing criminal charges.