70% Kerala MLAs face criminal cases, over half are crorepatis: ADR report

Nearly 70% of sitting MLAs in Kerala have declared criminal cases against themselves, while more than half are crorepatis, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The analysis, conducted by ADR and Kerala Election Watch, examined affidavits of 132 sitting MLAs and found that 92 legislators have pending criminal cases. Of these, 33 MLAs, or 25%, have declared serious criminal cases, including charges related to murder and attempt to murder.

The report noted that two MLAs have declared cases related to murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, while three face charges of attempt to murder under Section 307. Additionally, three MLAs have declared cases related to crimes against women, including one involving rape.
Party-wise data shows a high proportion of MLAs with criminal cases across political parties. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) had 43 out of 58 MLAs (74%) facing criminal cases, while the Indian National Congress recorded 19 out of 21 MLAs (90%). Among others, the Communist Party of India had 44%, and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) had 86% of its MLAs declaring such cases.

On the financial front, 72 MLAs (55%) have declared assets worth over ₹1 crore. The total assets of all 132 MLAs stood at ₹363.78 crore, with an average asset of ₹2.75 crore per MLA.

Among the political parties, all MLAs from Kerala Congress (M), JD(S), NCP, and Kerala Congress have declared assets above ₹1 crore. The IUML has 86% of its MLAs in the crorepati category, followed by the Congress at 62% and CPI(M) at 40%.

The report identified Mathew Kuzhalnadan of the Congress as the richest MLA with total assets exceeding ₹34 crore, followed by Independent MLA Mani C Kappen with over ₹27 crore and KB Ganesh Kumar of Kerala Congress (B) with assets worth more than ₹19 crore.

At the other end, CPI(M) MLA P P Sumod has declared assets of around ₹9.9 lakh, making him the least wealthy among those analysed.

In terms of demographics, 61% of MLAs have educational qualifications of graduate level or above, while 36% have studied between Class 5 and 12.

Only 11 MLAs, or 8%, are women.

The age profile shows that 70% of the MLAs are between 51 and 80 years old, while 30% fall in the age group of 25-50 years.