Over 100 lawmakers face criminal charges in Uttarakhand: ADR

During the 2017 Assembly elections, 22 out of 70 MLAs in Uttarakhand had been facing criminal charges including rape, murder and money extortion. However, the number has increased to 23 after BJP MLA from Dwarahat- Mahesh Negi accused in a sexual harassment case.

Dehradun: According to the analysis conducted by the election watchdog Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), at least 112 lawmakers of Uttarakhand are facing criminal charges including murder, rape and robbery.

According to the report, the most serious cases are filed against the MLAs of Gadarpur and Rudrapur of Udham Singh Nagar.

Haridwar, which is a sacred place for Hindus, has also been tainted with these politicians.

During the 2017 Assembly elections, 22 out of 70 MLAs had been facing criminal charges. However, the number has increased to 23 after BJP MLA from Dwarahat- Mahesh Negi accused in a sexual harassment case.

Out of the 70 seats in the Uttarakhand Assembly, 57 seats were won by the saffron party. Out of which, 18 of them have been facing criminal charges against them. However, Congress, who managed to secure 4 seats in the assembly elections, has an independent MLA who has been facing a criminal case.

'Tainted' ministers

Education Minister Arvind Pandey

He was associated with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since childhood and the current Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Gadarpur from Udhamsingh Nagar district, an important Terai area of Kumaon division. Along with this, he has been given the command of the education department and sports in the Trivandra Rawat government.

According to the affidavit given before the 2017 elections, there are 12 criminal cases pending against Pandey. FIRs have been filed on charges ranging from serious offences like murder and robbery. Not only this, in case of criminal intimidation, more than 8 other cases including Section 506 of the IPC are registered in the legal files.

Forest minister Harak Singh Rawat

Harak Singh Rawat, who announced not to contest the election after being removed from the post of the chairman of the Workers Welfare Board, is currently embroiled in controversy. BJP MLA from Kotdwar and presently Forest Minister Harak Singh Rawat refused to adopt the leadership of the then Chief Minister Harish Rawat in 2016 with a rebellious attitude. He opened a front against Harish Rawat and broke up the party with Vijay Bahuguna and all other MLAs and joined BJP.

Subodh Uniyal

Subodh Uniyal is also one of the MLAs who tried to topple the then Congress government. After rebelling in Harish Rawat government, he contested on behalf of BJP and is handling the Ministry of Agriculture in the current BJP government. Subodh Uniyal is an MLA from Narendranagar assembly seat in Tehri.

More than 5 cases have been registered as cases against the minister. Section 353 of the IPC on the charge of preventing a public servant from his duty using criminal force, in the case of willful breach of peace and dishonour, Section 504 of the IPC, Section 144 of the IPC in the case of riot and two cases of IPC.

Tainted MLAs in present assembly

Of the 70 MLAs elected to the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly in 2017, 23 have criminal cases against them. Cases of serious charges have been registered against 13 MLAs. According to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an affidavit given to the Election Commission, the number of tainted MLAs in 2012 is higher than the number of tainted MLAs in the year 2017. If we look at it as a percentage, then 32% of the MLAs in the current assembly are tainted.

Thukral's criminal history is no less

Rajkumar Thukral, sitting BJP MLA from Rudrapur Assembly seat under Udham Singh Nagar district is often in dispute, for murder, serious cases under Section 302 of the IPC and Section 307 related to the murder. A case was also registered under 436 of the IPC for damaging the house with fire and explosive material.

Jhabrera MLA-- Deshraj Karnwal

There are plenty of cases registered against the present BJP MLA Deshraj Karnwal of Jhabrera reserved assembly seat of Roorkee area of Haridwar.

Serious cases including rape on Dwarahat BJP MLA

Mahesh Negi, who came to the discussion after a woman accused him of sexual exploitation, represents BJP from Dwarahat Assembly.

Legislator Negi was booked in Dehradun under Section 376 in a case like rape.

Mussoorie MLA Ganesh Joshi

Ganesh Joshi, the BJP MLA representing Mussoorie Assembly in Dehradun district, came to the limelight after the death of 'Shaktimaan' horse. During the protest against the then Harish Rawat government in Uttarakhand, the MLA was accused of inhuman treatment of the police's horse Shaktimaan, after which the horse died. A case was filed against Ganesh Joshi in this case, which was later withdrawn.

Criminal details of Congress MLAs

Congress MLA Manoj Rawat from Rudraprayag

At the same time, Congress MLA Manoj Rawat from Rudraprayag of Kedarnath Assembly also has about half a dozen criminal cases filed. For the first time, Congress MLA Manoj Rawat, who was MLA from Rudraprayag Assembly seat in the 2017 assembly elections, has been booked under Section 506 for criminal intimidation, while Section 509 of IPC has been registered for insulting women and doing other criminal incidents.

Not only this, legal proceedings are prevalent in the case of Congress MLA Manoj Rawat, Section 144 in the riot case, 323 accused of hurting and Section 504 for intentionally insulting with the intention of breaching the peace.

Purola MLA Rajkumar

Congress MLA Rajkumar has two cases in the revenue sector in 2007 and one case in 2013 in the court which has framed charges.

According to the affidavits submitted to the Election Commission in the 2017 assembly elections in the state of Uttarakhand, the status of the cases filed against Congress and BJP people's representatives in the state is as follows-

• More than 10 cases filed against BJP government Education Minister Arvind Pandey.
• More than 14 cases filed against Mussoorie BJP MLA Ganesh Joshi.
• 15 cases against BJP Sahdev Singh Pundir, MLA from Sahaspur, Dehradun, are registered under different sections.
• Gangotri Assembly Public Representative Gopal Singh Rawat has two cases registered.
• BJP MLA from Tehri Assembly, Agriculture Minister Subodh Uniyal is registered in five different cases.
• Dhan Singh Negi, the minister of the BJP government, has many cases filed in the revenue department.
• Rajkumar, a Congress MLA from Purola Assembly in Uttarkashi district, has also several cases filed in the revenue sector and charges are set in court.
• More than 5 cases were filed against Congress MLA from Kedarnath Assembly Manoj Rawat in different sections.
• Jaspur people's representative Adesh Singh has more than half a dozen cases filed against him.
• The current BJP government Agriculture Minister Harak Singh Rawat who is MLA of Kotdwar Assembly has more than 9 cases registered in different cases.
• Public Representative Puran Singh Fartial from Lohaghat in Champawat district has two cases registered under IPC section 506 in two types of cases.
• Independent MLA Ram Singh Khaira coming from Bhimtal in Nainital district has two cases registered.
• In the current government of BJP from Haridwar district, Urban Minister Madan Kaushik was also booked under section 188.
• BJP's tainted MLA Kunwar Pranav Champion from Khanpur Assembly from Haridwar district has many cases registered against Arms Act and other threats like firing in the air.