New Delhi: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who has been bragging about giving clean administration and corruption free government, is himself carrying a dubious distinction. Yes, the so called CM with clean image has the maximum number of criminal cases registered against him as compared to his counterparts in other states. This was surfaced in a recently released report by the Association for Democratic Reform (ADR) which has included India’s 31 Chief Ministers, into its survey. Ironically, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had the highest number of criminal cases, 22, registered against them with 3 “serious criminal cases”. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Jammu & Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti had only one case each registered against their names. Out of India’s 31 Chief Ministers, 11 have criminal cases registered against them and only eight have “serious” criminal cases.
Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra, BJP: 22 cases
Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis tops the list of CMs with most criminal cases. Some of the charges against Fadnavis include serious charges such as “abetment of such assault, if the assault is committed”, “voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means”, being part of an unlawful assembly, rioting, voluntarily causing hurt and wearing garb or carrying token used by public servant with fraudulent intent.
Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala, CPI (M): 11 cases
The Kerala Chief Minister has the second highest number of criminal cases registered against his name, with serious charges such as “cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property”, rioting and criminal conspiracy.
Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi, AAP: 10 cases
Delhi CM and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal is number three on the list of CMs with criminal cases with most charges against him being unlawful assembly, obstructing a public servant from the discharge of their duty and defamation.
Raghubar Das, Jharkhand, BJP: 8 cases
Raghubar Das of Jharkhand has eight criminal cases against him, which include cases such as obstruction of lawful apprehension of another person, trespassing with preparation for causing hurt, criminal trespass, obstructing public servant from discharging their duty and wrongful restraint.
Amarinder Singh, Punjab, Congress: 4 cases
Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh, who also features on ADR’s list of three richest CMs in India, has four cases against him under several counts such as cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property, forgery, criminal breach of trust and causing disappearance of evidence.
Yogi Adityanath, Uttar Pradesh, BJP: 4 cases
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath only has four cases against him but the charges all seem serious. These include charges of injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult, rioting, trespassing on burial places, causing mischief by fire or explosive substance and criminal intimidation.
N Chandrababu Naidu, Andhra Pradesh, TDP: 3 cases
Andhra CM N Chandrababu Naidu, who emerged as the richest CM of India with assets worth Rs 177 crores, has three criminal cases registered against him. However, ADR does not categorise any of these as “serious” criminal cases.
K Chandrashekar Rao, Telangana, TRS: 2 cases
Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao has two criminal cases, which includes charges such as criminal intimidation, unlawful restraint and unlawful assembly.
V Narayanasamy, Puducherry, Congress: 2 cases
CM Narayanaswamy has only two cases against him that relate to “disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant (IPC Section-188)” and acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention (IPC Section-34)
Mehbooba Mufti, Jammu and Kashmir, PDP: 1 case
J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti has only one criminal case registered against her name and the only female CM who features on the list of CMs with criminal records. The only case against her is one for defamation.
Nitish Kumar, Bihar, JD (U): 1 case
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has one case registered against him but the charges are serious. He has been booked under section 302 of the IPC, which relates to murder.
