MP's criminality

FIRST EDIT

The newly elected Lok Sabha had its first exposure to the criminality of MPs with the arrest by the CBI of the Nationalist Congress Party’s senior leader, Padamsinh Patil, elected from Osmanabad in Maharashtra, on murder-related charges. Patil is a confidante of Sharad Pawar. But his arrest is a matter of embarrassment not just for Pawar and his party but also for the UPA, and again shows up parliament as a refuge of many criminals. The case illustrates how political leaders use their positions to promote business interests and settle personal scores with the help of anti-social elements. The charge against Patil is that he got his cousin and Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar murdered because of business rivalry and the latter’s exposure of malpractices in the sugar co-operatives run by the MP. The case would not have reached this stage but for the persistence of Nimbalkar’s family and the intervention of the judiciary. That also is pointer to how power and influence are used to suppress crimes and derail the course of justice.

The NCP has said that it will not try to shield Patil and will allow the law to take its course. It has also said that it will dissociate itself from Patil if he is proved guilty.
Unfortunately it takes years for the charges to be proved or disproved and in the meantime the accused politician continues as if nothing has happened. The arrest is also likely to cast a shadow on the Congress-NCP relations, especially in the context of the approaching Assembly elections in Maharashtra. The Congress may be tempted to take advantage of Pawar’s embarrassment and drive a harder bargain with the NCP over seats or the future political arrangement in the state. But politics should not be allowed to influence the due process of law in the case.

The number of members with criminal records is more in the present Lok Sabha than in the previous House. The various proposals made by the courts, the Election Commission and others to prevent the entry of criminal elements in parliament and state legislatures have not been acted upon. Politicians have apprehensions that the proposed legal measures might be misused by rivals. But if there is all-round willingness to weed out criminals from politics, it is not difficult to reach a consensus. In fact, if there is commitment to keep politics free of crime, there is no need for the law even. But no party has shown that commitment.