A report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) shows that nearly half the ministers in India have criminal cases against them, with several of them being billionaires with a capital B!
ADR analysis shows that 302 of the 643 ministers analysed, or 47%, had declared criminal cases in their election affidavits. These were ministers spread across 27 State Assemblies, 3 Union Territories, as well as the Union Council of Ministers.
Given the levels of corruption seen in India, it really shouldn’t come as a surprise to Indians. Afterall, according to the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), India was ranked 96 out of 180 countries. To make things worse, India was ranked 93 in 2023.
Of the 302, 174 ministers face serious charges including murder, kidnapping, crimes against women as well as financial irregularities.
The ADR report comes days after the Centre introduced 3 controversial bills. These bills seek to remove the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers, and Ministers arrested for over 30 days on serious criminal charges involving punishment of five years or more.
Notably - the BJP, which has the largest ministerial base, had 136 of its 336 ministers, or 40%, declaring criminal cases. 88 of them face serious charges. Congress - the main opposition party that currently governs 3 states, had 45 of its 61 ministers, or 74%, declare cases, including 18 with serious offences. The worst of the lot is the Andhra and Telangana-based TDP. 96%, or 22 of its 23 ministers, face criminal cases, 13 of which are for serious crimes.
Moreover, the ADR report also shed light on the financial profile of ministers. On an average, assets of ministers stood at ₹37.21 crore. Whereas the total assets of all 643 ministers analysed - amounts to nearly ₹24,000 crore! That’s enough to buy a dozen Rafale jets!
Among the state assemblies, Karnataka leads with 8 billionaire ministers, followed by Andhra Pradesh’s 6 and Maharashtra’s 4. The richest minister in India, as per ADR, is TDP’s Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani - with declared assets worth over ₹5,700 crore. At the other extreme - some ministers like Sukla Charan Noatia of the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura and Birbaha Hansda of the Trinamool Congress reported very modest assets. Noatia declared just ₹2 lakh, while Hansda reported assets of slightly over ₹3 lakh.
ADR however did add a caveat. They note that the criminal case data is based on affidavits filed between 2020 and 2025, and hence may have changed since.
Regardless, their report raises some serious questions about both - the legal integrity and financial concentration among India’s political elite.
