60% of sitting TN MLAs have declared criminal cases: ADR report

60% of sitting MLAs in Tamil Nadu have declared criminal cases against themselves, a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) released on Friday said. 60% of sitting TN MLAs have declared criminal cases: ADR report

The report analysed criminal, financial and demographic backgrounds of 218 sitting MLAs out of the 234-member state assembly, based on affidavits submitted prior to the assembly elections in 2021 and subsequent by-elections.

According to the report, out of those analysed, 131 sitting MLAs have declared criminal cases, with 55 out of these having declared serious criminal cases against themselves, including 2 MLAs declaring murder cases (IPC section 302), 13 having declared attempt to murder cases (IPC section 307) and 3 having declared crimes against women, out of which 1 MLA declared a rape case (IPC section 376).

A party-wise analysis revealed that 96 out 126 Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MLAs, 13 out of 60 MLAs from All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), 11 out of 15 Congress MLAs, 2 out of 4 BJP MLAs, 2 out 4 Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) MLAs , 2 out of 3 Pattali Makkal Katchi MLAs, and both MLAs fielded from PMK’s S Ramadoss faction and Communist Party of India (CPI) have declared criminal cases against themselves.

The financial and fiscal analysis revealed that the total assets declared by all MLAs analysed amounts to ₹2729.87 crore, with the average assets being ₹12.52 crore. 189 out of all sitting MLAs declared assets to the tune of over ₹1 crore, it showed further.

Sitting MLAs with the highest declared assets are E Subaya from AIADMK (Ambasamudram) with total assets exceeding ₹246 crores, followed by DMK MLAs M.K. Mohan (Anna Nagar) with over ₹211 crores in assets and S. Kathiravan (Manachanallur) with total assets more than ₹121 crores.

On the other hand, CPI MLA Marimuthu K (Thiruthuraipoondi) had the lowest declared assets worth ₹3,30,460, followed by CPI(M) MLA M. Chinnadurai with ₹4,73,200 in assets and DMK’s Abdul Samad P with total assets amounting to ₹10,64,400.

Vijaya Basker C from AIADMK (Viralimalai) reported the highest income out of all sitting MLAs in his income tax returns (ITR) for the financial year 2019-20, with his total income exceeding ₹10 crores, followed by DMK MLAs S. Kathiravan (Manachanallur) and Mathiazhagan D (Bargur), whose total incomes exceed ₹4 crores. The report also shows that 178 sitting MLAs have declared liabilities in their affidavits, with Congress MLA A.M. Munirathinam (Sholinghur) reporting the highest figure of liabilities over ₹50 crores.

The report also analysed background details such as the educational qualifications, age, and gender of the 218 sitting MLAs in Tamil Nadu. It found that 75 (34%) MLAs declared their educational qualification to be between 5th and 12th standard, 138 (63%) MLAs declared being a graduate or above, and 5 MLAs are diploma holders. Further, 145 (67%) MLAs declared their ages to be between 51 and 83 years, while the remaining 73 (33%) MLAs are aged between 31 and 50 years. The gender demographics reveal that only 12 (6%) of all MLAs in the Tamil Nadu assembly are women.